Gone like the Wind
by TheCoffee
Summary: After a fight breaks out in the Loud house Lincoln leaves Royal Woods and meets an unexpected friend. Can Lincoln sisters find Lincoln and can they fix the bond they broke?
1. Gone like the wind

'It's cold' Was the thought that finally laid itself inside the young boy's head. And it was true all he wore was his orange hoodie that was broken and cut all around.

Lincoln Loud the sole boy in a large family was walking down a snow-covered path. His eyes always looking down and ragged breaths coming from his mouth.

His arm, lip, and leg were bleeding, but he didn't feel it. Instead, the cold had numbed it out making it just more bearable.

The boy didn't care where he went. All he wanted to do was to go and walk straight not looking back. Except for the sharp wind noises, Lincoln heard nothing, no people, no cars and just nothing.

As he walked along the snow-covered path crushing the snow beneath his feet he thought back to a simple time. A time where everything was better than it was now.

Soon he began passing the park and noticed a bench covered in snow. Not having anything else to do he went towards it and scraped of the snow with his hand feeling the cold mix with the warmth of his hand.

He sat down and soon found himself easily relaxed on the bench. He looked forward and saw the beauty of snowfall.

_Flashback_

The tension was high in the Loud house. There was no noise in the halls as there used to be, and with every second the silence cuts deeper in every sibling.

After Lori moved Leni was left alone with a large room and naturally every sibling wanted to be roommates with the sweetheart sister.

It started out as a competition of sorts, who would Leni chose as her next roommate? Smug glares were thrown, angry rants and blackmail that came out to everyone.

Everybody was on edge and one spark could light the entire house. And this spark would start today and change the Loud house forever.

Everyone was currently eating dinner not saying anything. They all hurried with eating because they finally made Leni choose, she had said that there should be no hard feelings with who she picked, and everyone had agreed.

But everyone knew that was a lie. With the smug and death glares, it was obvious that the competition was still on and almost every sibling was silent this dinner.

There were, of course, siblings who weren't targeted like Lincoln, Lily and obviously Leni. Lincoln wasn't being targeted due to him not wanting to be involved in another family clash, Lily was considered too little to make her a suitable roommate and lastly Leni because well she owned the room.

Otherwise, it was every sibling against every sibling. And the most shocking part was that his parents didn't care about the high tension or what this could lead to. But he knew and tried his best to stop this from going too far before things ended violently, but they couldn't listen to him for once, being too confident that Leni would pick them as her next roommate.

Lincoln said next to nothing during dinner along with his sisters. He had a plan of course, during the next sibling meeting where Leni would announce her answer, Lincoln would stay in his room far away from the upcoming brawl.

Soon enough dinner was finished, and no one had said a word. Even Leni looked pressured from the looks of hope she received from her siblings. He truly felt bad for his sister knowing that everyone else who expected to be roommates with her would be mad at her for a long time.

'Good luck Leni' He thought to himself. He walked to his room and entered before laying down on his bed and hoping that in some way everything would go back to normal.

He started hearing the squeak of the stairs signaling to him that his sisters were about to have the meeting.

He opened his door enough for him to see with his eyes, Lincoln saw his sisters entering Leni's room all with smug and confident faces. Slowly he counted all his sisters entering until everyone had come in, the door was closed, and the meeting had begun.

Even though he wasn't a part of the meeting he was still getting knots in his stomach. Deciding to calm himself down he closed the door and picked up an Ace Savvy comic book of his desk. Reading for what felt like hours with a slight unease with how much time it was taking he gulped, and his heart started beating faster which each second passing.

He could hear high voices sounding from her room until suddenly silence, nothing and that put him on edge.

Then there was a sound of a door slamming open with pure anger and Lincoln hoped for the best and feared for the worst. He thought that they would all retreat to their rooms soon enough, but more and more footsteps were starting to sound closer and closer to him.

And then it suspiciously stopped, it felt like they were right outside his door waiting for him to take a small breath to know he was there. He was quiet and scared at this point not knowing what was happening until his door was kicked open out of anger revealing most of his sisters.

"SHE CHOSE YOU!" Was all Lincoln could understand as shadows of his sisters loomed over him. The next moments of his life were his most painful ones.

_Flashback end_

Lincoln thought back to that memory feeling the wounds he had received. His face already had a black eye, his legs barely wanted to move, and arms quaking. And now he was here, sitting outside on a cold night that most children would be happy to have.

The cold consumed Lincoln more and more for every second he sat there, deciding that sitting here forever wasn't an option he got up and walked towards the popular side of the city.

With his face covered by his hood, he could only walk forward not knowing where to go. He was never a person to do something unplanned, it was his gift to always be prepared to make a plan and that is what he needed.

A simple plan…

He stopped in his tracks and made sure he had something on him. He felt the pockets of his hoodie and knew what he found when he felt a small lump coming from it. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his wallet.

Opening it up revealed nothing but Lincoln was the only one who knew of a secret about this wallet. There was a secret compartment that only he knew existed, reaching deep into his wallet he pulled back a small piece of cloth revealing money that he had saved up for a while.

Showing no emotion while counting it he made up a plan there was no turning back from. He thought long and hard about it before cracking a small smile that not even Lucy could see.

Lincoln began walking faster and faster not wanting to let the doubts settle in, he soon found himself outside a train station. Checking for cameras he made his way towards a ticket booth that suspiciously had no cameras looking over it.

Making sure his hood covered his hair and face, he went up and bought a ticket as far away from home as he could.

Looking at the time and seeing that he had some time before the train arrived, he went to a clothes store and bought a jacket and a new hoodie.

While leaving the store he took off his orange hoodie and threw it in the trash can before putting on his new clothes and heading back to the train station.

Soon enough the train arrived in front of him and opened its doors. Lincoln felt his adrenaline wear off but that didn't matter as he took his first steps in.

Watching the train doors close behind him he felt no regrets for what he was doing because he knew that it didn't matter what he wanted now.

He was free now and gone like the wind.

* * *

**c0ffeee here with my first one-shot that randomly appeared in my head. No idea where it came from, but I hope you enjoy this, thanks for reading. And as always, any type of criticism or feedback is welcomed along with reviews.**


	2. Gone after the Wind

**Hey, guy's c0ffeee here making chapter 2 for 'Gone like the Wind'. I've decided to make this a full story and I want to thank _heavy5commando_ for helping me with ideas and more. Without further ado here is chapter 2.**

* * *

Sitting on the train and watching out the window the sole boy was processing what has happened during these past few hours.

The more he stood still the more his pain sank deeper and deeper in. Letting out calm breaths he relaxed in the comfy seat feeling the warmth of the train.

Looking around the train was really crowded. It wasn't either a surprise with where he was going, he saw people with bags smiling and talking with their loved ones and family.

Lincoln shuddered at the thought of that word. Family was something he didn't want to hear for a long time, the ones who hurt him all because of some room. If somebody asked Lincoln what he thought of family, he would say the word fear.

Nothing described his feelings about his family better than fear, fear that if he ever returned that he would be hurt again. And that pain was something that Lincoln didn't want to feel ever again.

Suddenly he saw a lady walking between the two rows of seats with a cart full of stuff. His eyes laid focus on the coffee machine on top of the cart, he hadn't slept the entire trip and needed all the energy he could get.

Soon the cart began passing him and Lincoln pulled up his hand gaining the attention of the lady.

"Hey, kid! What do you want?" She asked cheerfully much to Lincoln's surprise. Recovering from the shock he pointed towards the coffee machine not wanting to speak as he was deep in thought.

"Alright kid one cup coffee for you." She said before turning to the cart and pouring a cup full of coffee. Meanwhile, Lincoln pulled out the money and handed it to the lady before taking the cup.

Lincoln blew the top of the cup before drinking some of it. He felt the smooth liquid go down his throat, he felt how slowly his body began to wake up and regain its strength. Lincoln continued to drink the coffee carefully as to not spill it and soon found himself that he only held an empty cup.

The boy began considering if he should by another one but stopped himself when he heard the train's speakers speak out.

"_Attention all passengers. We will be shortly arriving at our destination. Please wait for the train to stop before getting up and we hope that you have enjoyed your journey." Said the man thru the speaker._

'Well, I'm soon there.' Thought Lincoln to himself. Allowing his thought to run deeper Lincoln began to wonder what was happening back at 'home'.

He wanted to believe that they regretted doing what they did and that they wished he was back but a small part of him believed otherwise. As Lincoln was about to go down a dark path in his mind he was stopped when he felt the train slow down, looking out and seeing the tall buildings that the city had and along with the snowfall it made everything look perfect like it was his solution all along.

Soon the train stopped, and everyone began standing up and picking up their bags but since Lincoln didn't have any, he squeezed past everyone and made it to the entrance quickly. He looked at the doors knowing that he went in through them scared and in pain and coming out a bit less scared and still in some pain.

A satisfying noise suddenly came from the doors before opening sending a cold breeze at Lincoln. Not wanting to waste the people's time behind him, he put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and walked out.

Walking out Lincoln went past a sign saying, 'Welcome to New York!'. He looked at the sign before smiling and heading out, snow was still falling, and he was still freezing in some parts, but he ignored that this time.

"Where to now?" Lincoln asked himself. Realizing that he had no plan he stopped in his tracks and began thinking of one. He began to realize that he would be screwed without any source of income in the next weeks. Then he must find a place to sleep, sleeping on the streets wasn't an option especially when it was this cold outside.

That left the boy with two goals he needed to do. 'He had to find a way to make money and find a place to sleep.' He thought worryingly. Knowing that standing here won't do any good he began heading towards the busy part of the city.

He walked the paths beside the streets seeing cars pass by faster than they ever did in Royal Woods. New York was nothing like his home, the streets were crowded with people and stores at every corner you turn.

Lincoln walked for what felt like and he stopped when the pain started to really set in and limit the young boys' movement and that all was too much to bear. As he stood still seeing his surroundings and letting out warm breaths of air.

Without warning his stomach audibly makes a noise Lincoln was familiar with. 'You couldn't have done that while we were on the train?' He mentally asked his stomach. Hunger was something Lincoln was familiar with, he remembered the time where his 'dad' ordered a pizza and there was one slice left. He was the only one who was still hungry out of all his 'sister' at least that's what he had always suspected but didn't dare to ask for the slice and with the events that happened, he was glad that he didn't.

Knowing better than going out in the cold streets hungry he slowly made his way searching for something cheap to eat.

The young boy was passing food stores looking at the prices and only seeing overpriced things, he sighed letting out another breath that becomes smoke like right in front of him.

But soon the boys lucky came back as he looked over the street and saw a small hotdog stand. He squinted his eye to see the price of the hotdogs knowing that he wasn't going to find anything better and save money at the same time. The white-haired boy managed to make out the price and to his surprise, it was actually quite cheap.

He looked around looking for anywhere to pass the street until he notices a group of people walking over to the other side. Lincoln quickly follows them and makes his way to the hotdog stand, he glared at the different options both counting the price and how much he gets.

"Hey kiddo what are you having?" Asked the man working behind the counter. After some decisions later he knew what he was having and answered.

"I'll have two normal hotdogs please." He said. Yeah sure it was pretty basic but he wasn't going for quality but instead for quantity.

The man behind the counter begins putting together the hotdog as Lincoln takes out the money to pay. After paying Lincoln was left with two hotdogs in both his hands, he began eating one and walking somewhere else at the same time.

While walking he took the time to look at the city's beauty and how the snowfall made it even more pretty. He swallowed another piece of his hotdog while thinking this, found himself passing a nearby alley.

Sadly, for the boy, this alleyway was one filled with stray dogs that were looking for food to survive and the small whiff of the boy's hotdog made the dogs go wild and leave the alleyway.

Hearing unfriendly growls coming from behind him he turned around and noticed dogs approaching him. Lincoln began walking faster trying to avoid an unpleasant encounter with the dogs. Knowing from memory how bad it was with Lana's animals.

The boy was about to throw the hotdog knowing it was not worth the risk but he lost the option when the dogs ran after Lincoln and in response, Lincoln began to run away, even with the pain he used every single part of him to move forward as to not get eaten by dogs.

Lincoln was actually surprised that the people he ran by didn't do anything but instead only looked at him. Not really being in a great position to argue he ran along wondering for how long those dogs would chase him.

'I need a plan else I'm dog food.' He thought to himself as he ran breathing heavily. And then something came into Lincolns sight that gave him an idea, it was a park that had trees as the eye could see.

The sole boy changed his directions and ran towards the park with a plan of losing the dogs by hiding by trees. It was not his best plan but at least it was a plan.

Running into the park feeling the wind push against his face he continued running into a place crowded with trees. Running in every direction Lincoln glanced behind him to see no dogs. Sighing out of relief he leaned against a tree catching his breath.

He stood there for about five minutes before walking to a path close by. He could feel his heart still beating heavily from the marathon he ran, the adrenaline was running low making his pain come back. The boy looked down on the ground not paying any attention as he was walking.

Suddenly the boy bumps into someone and falls down along with the other person. Laying on the ground he felt the snow send chills up his spine.

Slowly getting up he heard another dog growl at him but this time it wasn't one of the stray ones.

"Ajax stop." Said a feminine voice. Lincoln focused on the girl who was starting to get up while holding the lease to the dog.

He saw her face and couldn't shake off the feeling of resemblance. Light brown hair that was tied into a braid, the bow on the side of her hai- 'oh wait a minute!' Lincoln thought to himself.

Meanwhile, the girl was also examining the boy who accidentally walked into her. The white hair, that voice, and a black eye? Soon her mind snapped back as she realized who it was.

"Girl Jordan?"

"Lincoln Loud?"

* * *

**c0ffeee here thanking you for reading chapter 2. As always reviews are welcomed along with criticism, thanks for reading and see you in chapter 3.**


	3. Unexpected Encounter

Both he and she were laying on the cold and snowy ground, neither of them talked out of surprise. Both kids seemed out of reality but were soon snapped back when they heard her dog bark.

"L-lincoln is that you?" She asked. She was surprised to see the white haired boy out here meanwhile from Lincoln's perspective it felt like everything around him stopped, and that this was an unavoidable question.

"Y-yeah i-its me." Lincoln answered with an audible shaky voice that formed from his shock.

Jordan didn't expect to meet someone from her school all the way here, but there was also something with his voice and the way he talked that said that something isn't right with him.

"So, w-what are you doing h-here?" Jordan asked. It was a simple question that anyone could answer, but to her surprise, the Loud boy seemed to hesitate to say anything. He thought about it for a couple of moments before coming up with a answer.

"J-just taking a walk… ya'know." Said the white-haired boy. It wasn't the best answer but it was all that could leave his mouth.

"In New York?" Asked Jordan. She could sense the unwillingness to answer but knew that something was wrong and pushed on.

"Lincoln, what are you really doing here?" Jordan asked. She looked at Lincoln and started examining his visible wounds like his black eye.

"I-I… r-ran away." The loud boy said with a shaky voice, he tried to speak as silent as he could, but Jordan still managed to hear that.

It felt like everything disappeared around them after that. That there was nothing, and Lincoln awaited a response. Instead, he saw the girl looking at him in confusion and examining him further but laying extra notice to the black eye he had.

"What happened?" She asked in a soft voice. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it after not finding the words to explain it. Jordan saw that Lincoln couldn't find the words and decided to switch the question.

"Does it have to do with your family?" She anticipated an answer, the Loud boy nodded while looking down on the snow.

That small nod created so many questions in her mind. What happened? Why New York?

But knowing that he wouldn't answer the questions and that she was starting to feel cold she instead pulled out her hand and grabbed Lincoln's. And with her dog on a leach on one of her hand and the Loud boy in the other she began making her way through the park.

"Where are we going?" Lincoln asked unsure.

"Lincoln if you ran away then I doubt that you have a place to stay. And since we're both covered in snow and are cold, I think its best if we go to my place to cool off." Jordan said.

"I don't know. I don't want to intrude or anything like that." Said Lincoln making Jordan look back at him.

"Lincoln do you know how cold it gets on nighttime?" She asked and Lincoln responded with shaking his head.

"It gets pretty cold, and I doubt that you will find a place to stay in New York of all places." She explained.

The walk continued, they walked for what felt like an hour before reaching a large house that looked like a mansion. Lincoln did know that her parents were rich but even he admitted that this was a surprise.

They approached the door and Jordan let go of Lincoln's hand and searched through her pocket before pulling out a key and unlocking the door.

The two pre-teens entered the house with Lincoln being absolutely astonished at how everything looked.

"Yeah sorry if this isn't much. Our maid doesn't show up until tomorrow." Jordan said as she united Ajax from its leash.

Feeling the warm air covering his body Lincoln took off his jacket and put it on a coat hanger along with Jordan.

Still being astonished from the place he looked around as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Hey Lincoln, are you hungry?" Asked Jordan.

"No, I just ate a hotdog." He replied making Jordan chuckle a bit.

"C'mon, a hotdog isn't a full course meal." Jordan said.

"Fine, what are we eating then?" Asked the Loud boy.

Jordan went to the kitchens cabinets and looked inside. "Mom and dad forgot to stock up on food. But I guess that we could make noodles."

"Yeah, I'm okay with that." After he answered Jordan began boiling the noodles. While waiting she couldn't help but feel a deep silence that filled the kitchen, she wanted to ask about everything but didn't know if she should.

"Look Lincoln I know that I am not your best friend like Clyde but… what happened? Why did you leave? Why do you have a black eye?" And the questions continued to flood.

But with an audible sigh, Lincoln began to speak.

"It started with Lori moving away-" And so Lincoln retold Jordan everything he had experienced while she looked on in horror.

"-and then I ran into you." The boy finished. He looked up from the ground and met Jordan's eyes who showed pure shock.

"Lincoln t-that i-is " Jordan couldn't even finish her sentence.

"I know, it's horrible." Lincoln said trying to calm the girl down.

"No Lincoln that is beyond evil. No know should treat a brother like that!" Her shock turned into anger as she rose up from her chair walking in circles trying to calm down. She was about to speak but looked at the noodles and saw that they needed to be stirred and went over stirring them while processing what she had just heard.

After a while, the noodles were done and they both sat eating on the table neither of them saying anything until Jordan broke the silence.

"Lincoln, it's best if I call my mom. She is a lawyer and I really need her perspective on this. Nothing about this can be legal." She waited for a response and looked at the white-haired boy.

"I don't t-think th-" Lincoln tried to say but was cut off by Jordan.

"No Lincoln, that not a question. I can't stand you sitting here with a black eye and all bruised up, letting them get away with it." Lincoln wanted to speak back and try to change her mind but from her tone, it was clear that her mind had already been made.

Taking the silence as a yes, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and went into another room to speak with her mom leaving Lincoln all alone.

He finished his noodles and made the dishes as his way of thanking her. Lincoln did consider for a second to just walk away but threw those thoughts aside knowing that it would only make things worse.

After what felt like 15 minutes Jordan left the room putting her cell phone back in her pocket and making her way towards him.

"What did your mom say?" Lincoln asked. He looked at the girl who still had that shocked look in her eyes and a hinge of hurt waiting for her to respond.

"She said that she will be back in 1 hour." Lincoln looked at the hanging clock on the wall noting the time.

"Well, what are we supposed to do the next 1 hour?" Lincoln asked. He saw how Jordan got an idea and took his hand once more before leading him to the living room.

She motioned Lincoln to sit down on the couch which he did while Jordan grabbed the remote and began looking through movies on the tv. Moments later after searching she turned to him showing a movie on the screen.

"You like Ace Savvy?" She asked with a smile.

"Who doesn't? Is a better question." He asked her back with a smile. Moments later she turned on the movie and clapped her hand which shut off the lights. She sat down next to him, which Lincoln found really awkward as he blushed a bit along with Jordan.

Otherwise, the movie was great, watching Ace Savvy solve mysteries and even though he had already seen the movie this time felt special. Meanwhile, Jordan was feeling the exact same thing.

But both kids were starting to feel tired, but Jordan was the one to manage to stay awake the longest. And she knew this when she felt his head lean against her shoulder along with that he began exhaling deep breathes.

Looking at his face was when she really saw the damage that they had caused to him. That alone almost made her cry.

She did admit that it felt great helping the Loud boy. She couldn't believe that someone had hurt him especially his family of all people. But it was good knowing that he was safe with her and far away from his family that would only hurt him.

That feeling of knowing that she was helping her friends relaxed her enough to let her sleep and rest.

But sadly, the feeling of relaxing was cut short when she felt a tap on her other shoulder, she looked at where it came from and saw her mom smiling at her.

Realizing what this looks like from her mother's angle she blushed and slowly lifted the young boys' head and placed it down on a pillow before laying a blanket over him.

The daughter and mother made their way into a private room to speak as to not wake Lincoln up.

"You could have asked to talk to me tomorrow if you wanted to stay there." Jordan's mom said.

"Well, we are talking now." Said Jordan with some seriousness in her voice.

"So, what you told me was true?" Jordan's mom asked.

"Yeah, i-it's beyond terrible what they did. It hurts to see him like this, normally in school he's the cheerful person but now…" Said Jordan while tearing up a bit.

Her mom bowed down to her level and put her hand on her daughters' shoulder.

"Don't worry sweetie, we'll help him get through this." She said wholeheartedly. The two share a hug before resuming the conversation.

"What about dad? Did you tell him?" Asked Jordan.

"No, he won't be back until tomorrow. So, we'll tell him when he comes back alright?" Jordan nods before hugging her mom once again.

Jordan walked to her room leaving her mother alone in the room.

She calmly laid down on her bed and tried to fall asleep, and after 10 minutes she was in a deep sleep again.


	4. Back at Home

The snow was getting thicker by the second back in Royal Woods, with the last train having left 15 minutes ago the city was calmer than ever.

And currently in the Loud house, Leni Loud was walking towards the bathroom with a happy smile on her face.

'Can't wait for Lincy to be my roommate. He totes deserves it!' Leni thought happily.

Leni proceeds to enter the bathroom and begins brushing her teeth but while looking in the mirror she notices that her hair wasn't combed right.

'Ohh silly Leni you combed your hair bad again.'

After leaving the bathroom Leni walks into her room to get her brush but quickly takes notices that none of her little brothers' stuff was in her room.

'Maybe he needs help carrying everything from his room.' Leni thought to herself deciding also to go help her brother move all of his stuff.

She left her room and walked towards the closet room that Lincoln has spent most of his days in. While walking Leni walked past Lola standing outside her door with a sour look on her face.

But begin the one minded person she is, Leni decided to ask her about it later and continued walking towards her brothers' room.

Leni twisted the knob and when the door opened a cold breeze hit Leni from Lincoln's room. She walked into the room while looking at the open window that let all of the cold air in.

'Must have forgotten to close it. Silly Lincy.' Leni chuckled at her brother's forgetfulness.

But then she began looking around the room and didn't see him anywhere inside much to Leni's surprise, she walked in more and saw his phone on the table which was cracked.

'Poor Lincy. He must have dropped it today.' Thought Leni as she remembered those cracks not being there yesterday.

'I should ask Lola. If anyone knows where Lincy is then it's totes Lola.' Leni finished thinking before walking out of her brothers' room and towards Lola standing in the hall.

"Hey Lola, do you know where Lincy is?" Asked Leni. Lola reacted as of the name was poison and frowned before responding.

"Don't know, don't care." And with that Lola made her way back into the room leaving Leni in shock.

She has never seen her sibling this angry before. But knowing that Lola didn't know where he was Leni began thinking where he could be.

'He's probably at Clyde's.' Came Leni to the realization. 'I should probably call Clyde and tell Lincy that he got the room.'

She takes out her phone from her pocket and call up Clyde and waited for a response.

"_Hello?"_ Answered a tired Clyde on the other side of the phone.

"Hey, Clyde! I was wondering if you could let Lincoln speak to me. Sorry if I interrupted your hangout." Said Leni.

"_What are you talking about? Leni Lincoln isn't here, is there something wrong?"_ Asked Clyde. This made Leni really confused about where Lincoln was, hearing that Clyde was worried she acted and said.

"Yeah totes, I just expected him to be at your place." Answered Leni.

_"Alright if you say so. Well, goodnight Leni." _Clyde finished. When the call ended Leni stood there being more confused than ever about where her brother was.

The blonde began going through every place in her mind where Lincoln could be, but none of them would explain why he would leave without his phone.

'Maybe mom and dad would know!' Thought Leni. After realizing that she made her way downstairs and into her parents' room.

Leni turned on the light and closed the door making a lot of noise inside the room waking both of the parents.

Her mother was the first one to get up and saw Leni standing there with a small worry on her face.

"Sweetie what wrong? Did you have another nightmare?" Rita asked softly. Leni shook her head before walking over to their bed.

"No mom, I'm just wondering if you know where Lincoln is. I can't seem to find him." Said a slightly concerned Leni only to be met with a small chuckle from both parents.

"Did you try looking in his room?" Asked Lynn. Sr but the answer was what really shocked him.

"Yes, I did. His room was empty with his phone on the desk, I asked Lola, but she doesn't seem to care, and Clyde had no idea." Both parents looked at each other concerned before getting up and putting their clothes back on.

Leni followed her parents to Lincoln's room getting an uneasy feeling from all of this, Leni always knew when something was wrong with her siblings, it was like another sense to her. But this time her sense was going haywire about this situation.

The parents walked up to Lincolns' room and opened the door feeling the same breeze hit them as Leni got. And a small part of the parents expected their son to be laying down on his bed reading comics or sleeping but instead, they were met with a messy room.

Items were laying on the ground almost as if they were thrown, the sheets had been ripped and Bun-Bun who was Lincoln's stuffed rabbit was completely destroyed.

While the parents were examining the room, Luna had walked out of her room to get some water but stopped in her tracks when she saw her parents.

Not knowing what was going on Luna walked over to her parents and Leni before asking them about it.

"Hey pops, what are you doing in Lincs room?" Luna asked. Unlike her siblings, after the fight, her anger vanished almost instantly. And she did feel somewhat bad for what she did, but they were siblings and siblings always get into these kinds of fights. At least in their home.

"Looking for Lincoln. Leni looked for Lincoln but couldn't find him, and now neither can we." Said Lynn. Sr who was starting to feel a bit scared about where their son had gone.

"What about Clyde or maybe one of the other dudettes know." Luna didn't think much of it since the house was big and they often couldn't find Lucy. But to her surprise, Rita responded by saying.

"Leni already called Clyde, and Lola doesn't know." Suddenly Rita shivers out of the cold air inside Lincolns' room. "Why is it so cold in here?" Asked Rita.

"Ohh, when I came here Lincy had accidentally left his window open." Said Leni innocently. Both of the parents look at each other considering the possibility while Luna stands frozen.

'He wouldn't just leave… right?' Luna thought. It was after all a normal sibling fight. But to her horror, she finally looked inside Lincolns' room seeing all the chaos in the room, and it finally began sinking in how far they had gone.

Fear soon replaced all of her emotions as now it was a possibility that her brother had left. Knots began forming in her stomach and she started to back away out of fear with Leni looking at her with concern.

"Luna are you okay?" And while she wasn't the brightest, she knew that Luna wasn't telling them something regarding this situation.

But Luna just continued to back away with a look of fear in her eyes. This made Leni really worried about what happened to Lincoln, Luna was one of Lincoln's most trusted sisters and if she didn't dare tell them then there was something really wrong.

"Luna, what happened?" She asked in a higher tone. Both stress, worry, and panic filled her mind as she demanded an answer. The tone of her voice catches the parent's attention who look at Luna.

"Luna what happened!" Leni exclaimed loudly making Luna more scared while their parents listen in shock, having never heard their cheerful daughter raise her voice like that.

Moments after the question died down all the rest of the siblings walk out of their rooms wondering what was going on.

Still receiving no answer, Luna continued to back away but was stopped when Leni grabbed her shoulder making her unable to escape the situation.

"Luna. What. Happened?" Leni asked in a short burst. She didn't sound like herself anymore but instead, her voice was filled with worry and small amounts of anger.

Everyone in the family was shocked by Leni's behavior. The normal airheaded blonde was now integrating their rockstar sister.

"I-I … I'm sorry!" Shouted Luna with tears forming in her eyes. Everyone looked at her confused and Leni let her grip go of Luna.

"It's our fault!" She said with tears falling from her eyes. Rita walked out of Lincolns' room and to her daughter to comfort her.

"It's okay sweetie, just tells us what happened. Okay?" said Rita as she hugged the loudest Loud. Thru the sniffles and tears falling a nod could be felt on Rita's shoulder.

"It s-started when L-Lori moved out…" Luna begins going through all the events that happened. Meanwhile, the parents looked shocked at what they heard and looking at the other siblings they knew there was no denying what happened.

But out off all the people Leni didn't move nor react. Instead, she just stood there looking at Luna while processing the information.

After Luna finished everyone was silent and no words were said. And then the unexpected happened, there was a slapping noise that filled the halls and Luna fell onto the ground covering her cheek with her hand.

Lynn. Sr quickly reacted and pulled Leni away who was the one who slapped her.

"HE DID NOTHING WRONG TO YOU. AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HIM." Leni screamed. Everyone was shaking from the unheard voice of Leni screaming in anger.

Lynn. Sr tried to pull Leni back to she shook herself free and walked downstairs with heavy steps.

"Where are you going!?" Asked Rita who was tending to Luna.

"TO FIND MY ONLY SIBLING." And then there was a slam that came from the front door indicating that she had left.

No one wanted to say anything, but something needed to be said. And the silence was broken by Lana who asked.

"Mom, what's happening?"

Meanwhile out on the streets of Royal Woods Leni was walking with tears running from her eyes and anger acting as her motivation. The blonde didn't know where to look but knew that she had to.

She sighed before pulling up her phone once more and calling someone.

_"Hey Leni *yawn* Why are you calling me. Work starts in 7 hours."_ Said a female voice on the other side. But the voice knew that something was wrong when she heard Leni sniffle.

"Fiona I really need your help. Please." Leni said with desperation. Leni listened in on her phone hearing scuffling on the other side before getting a response.

"_Tell me where you are, and I'll be there." _Said Fiona seriously.

"Thanks, also call Miguel. I need as many people as I can for this." Said Leni determined and got a confirmation from Fiona. Leni ended the call and waited for her friends with one hopeful thought in her head.

'Please be okay Lincoln.'


	5. The Hand I Follow

While sleeping on the couch Lincoln couldn't help but take in the comfort he was feeling. But a certain delicious smell awoke the young Loud boy. Lincoln slowly regained consciousness and woke up from his peaceful slumber.

He looked around from his bed looking for the source of the smell and deduced that it's probably coming from the kitchen. Suddenly all of the memories of what happened flooded his mind and he sighed being both happy and sad about the whole situation.

Lincoln was happy that he found a place to stay with Girl Jordan of all people but at the same time, he was still haunted by the bad memories that his sisters created.

But moments later his train of thoughts was broken by someone entering the living room where he slept. Upon noticing him being awake she smiled at him before speaking.

"Hello, Lincoln is it?" Asked the woman. Lincoln examined the woman and managed to conclude that it was Jordan's mother based on the similarities.

"Yes. I'm guessing your Jordan's mom." Said Lincoln.

"Yes, I am. I came here to check if you're awake since breakfast is almost done." Said Jordan's mom. Lincoln took that as his cue and yawned before standing up from beneath the covers.

"I'm going to wake Jordan up. Feel free to sit down in the kitchen." Said Jordan's mom politely. Lincoln agreed before going to the same kitchen where he and Jordan had their talk and sat down. He looked at the frying pan which was currently making pancakes that had made the wonderful smell he awoke to.

Meanwhile, Jordan's mom walked up to Jordan's room and knocked silently. After receiving no response, she knocked a bit louder, but the same outcome occurred, and she opened the door to her daughters' room.

Jordan's mom walked into the room and glanced at her daughter sleeping peacefully with slow breaths. She smiled before walking over to the window and opening up the sheets causing light to consume the room which woke up the girl.

"Just 5 more hours." Jordan groaned before covering her face with a pillow. The mom smiled at Jordan's stubbornness before trying to convince her to wake up.

"Come on sweetie. Breakfast is ready soon." Jordan's mom said convincingly. But another groan could be heard as Jordan got more comfortable on her bed. So, Jordan's mom decides to switch tactics.

"Lincoln's down there." And suddenly all of Jordan's memories came back and she remembered everything with Lincoln. Jordan practically jumped out of bed and dressed up as fast as a soldier would. Jordan's mom chuckled at the fact that it worked and followed Jordan to the kitchen.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, they found a plate with a mountain of pancakes on it in the middle of the table. Then the family duo looked around and saw Lincoln making pancakes on the frying pan. Lincoln then turned towards them and noticed them looking at him.

"Ohh, hey. The pancakes were about to burn so I decided to step in." Explained Lincoln before continuing "Also I wasn't sure if we had enough, so I made some of my own." Then he used a spatula to pick up the pancakes from the pan and put them onto the plate filled with pancakes.

Lincoln motioned to them both to sit down which they did before he sat down to eat. They all began to eat the pancakes and enjoyed it.

"Thank you, Lincoln, you are a great kid." Said Jordan's mom. Meanwhile, Jordan was amazed at the taste of the pancakes the Lincoln made.

"Lincoln, these pancakes are amazing!" She exclaimed.

"T-thanks!" Lincoln stuttered with a smile.

As the trio of people continued to eat silence befell in the kitchen. Nobody knew what to say or what to do but as they continued to eat Jordan decide to speak.

"So Lincoln, what did you think about the Ace Savvy movie?" Jordan asked Lincoln. He turned to her and thought back to when he watched it with her.

"I thought it was great." He answered receiving a smile from Jordan.

"Glad that I could entertain you." She said.

The two kids continued to talk and laugh, soon enough all of the pancakes were eaten. Jordan's mom got up and picked up the plates to clean them.

"I'll help." Said Lincoln as he stood up and walked over to Jordan's mom and began to clean on of the plates along with Jordan's mom.

"I appreciate your help Lincoln. Could you possibly finish cleaning those plates? I need to talk to Jordan." Said the mom. Lincoln responded with a nod and Jordan's mom motioned Jordan to walk out with her.

Upon leaving the kitchen Jordan gave confused looks to her mom as to why she was here before Jordan's mom spoke.

"Dad called this morning. He said that he'll be back in about 2 hours, so I thought that you and Lincoln could come up with something while we wait." Suggested Jordan's mom.

"Like what?" Asked Jordan. While she and Lincoln shared most of their interests, she didn't know what he would prefer.

"Maybe take him to the mall. There's all kind of stuff there, I'm sure you'll both find something interesting there." Said the mom.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Said Jordan.

"Thanks, now go and tell your boyfriend that and put on your jacket." Said Jordan's mom with a large grin.

"M-MOM!" Jordan said before she began to blush instantly and stutter much to her mom's amusement.

"Just go and get ready before I tease you some more." Joked her mom, at this point she was full-on chuckling.

Jordan left and went back into the kitchen along with her mother with her blush still visible. Jordan glanced at Lincoln who was currently finishing to clean the last plate.

"Hey Lincoln, e-eh ma-may-" Stuttered Jordan still being surprised by her mothers' comment. Seeing her daughter stutter and unable to ask, Jordan's mom did it for her.

"She was wondering if you would want to visit the mall." Said Jordan's mom. Lincoln thought about it a couple of moments before responding.

"Yeah sure, if you'd don't mind." Responded Lincoln.

"Alright then, I'll go and start up the car." Said Jordan's mom as she picked up her car keys from the counter.

Both Lincoln and Jordan walk to the front door and put on their jackets.

"Are you excited Lincoln?" Asked a clearly excited Jordan. While Lincoln did have some mixed feelings about the mall he couldn't say 'no' to her.

"Yeah!" Lincoln said energetically. Jordan gave him one more smile before opening the door and walking out with Lincoln following behind her.

He followed Jordan to a car where her mom currently sat inside waiting for them. Being the gentleman, he is, he opened the car door for Jordan. Jordan chuckled as she went inside saying.

"Thank you, my kind butler." Her saying that triggered a sour memory in his mind. The word 'butler' made him remember all of the times he was forced to be Lola's butler at her tea parties. Some people would just say no to that but if they knew Lola then they wouldn't dare. She was considered to be the family's tattletale and she would easily blackmail you if she didn't get as she wanted.

While these thoughts were happening, Lincoln had gone inside the car and sat beside Jordan who was looking at him worried.

"Lincoln." Jordan said as she was tapping his shoulder making him snap out of his thoughts. He looked at Jordan and realized that she was worried about him.

"Are you okay. You seemed a bit out of touch." Jordan asked. Not wanting to ruin the mood more than it already has he smiled at her and responded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just some random thought came to my head." Said Lincoln convincingly. While Jordan didn't believe the white-haired boy, she knew that he would continue to tell that he was fine.

"If you say so. Anyway, what do you want to do at the mall?" Jordan asked Lincoln.

"Don't know, I've never been there." Responded Lincoln. Jordan thought about what he would enjoy there before her mind had an idea.

"What about the comic book store. I heard that they finally released 'Ace Savvy: Split Deck'." Said Jordan.

And for the whole ride, he and Jordan talked about the new Ace Savvy comic book series that was about Ace Savvy and his team splitting off and fighting each other. Almost like a civil war.

But soon enough the drive ended when Jordan's mom pulled up to the mall and parked her car.

"Alright kids, I need to go home and finish some client papers. So, call me when you want a ride back home." Said Jordan's mom. The two kids nod before exiting the car and walking towards the mall.

Inside the mall, Lincoln was amazed by the size of it.

"This has to be like 2 times the size of the one in Royal Woods!" Said Lincoln. There were stores as far as the eye could see and Jordan was smiling at the amazed boy.

"You look like a kid on Christmas." Joked Jordan.

"Yeah but look at this." Said Lincoln as he motions at the whole mall.

"This place is huge!" Lincoln finished. Jordan smiled at the energy of the loud boy and was happy to see him acting like his normal self.

"Come on, let's get going to the comic store before you stand here until it closes." Jordan joked. She grabbed the Loud boy's hand and pulled him along, they must have passed a hundred stores all while Lincoln was still mind blown.

After running past stores for what felt like 10 minutes the duo managed to find themselves outside of a comic store. And it blew his mind more.

The store was larger than he could have imagined, and Jordan laughed at the boys' reaction as his eyes were glued on in more amazement.

"Come on Lincoln, it's just a comic store." Jordan said while laughing.

"I know but look at this!" Lincoln said while pointing towards the store.

"Let's just finally go in." Said Jordan. And as a reflex of some kind, she grabbed his hand even though she didn't need to.

They entered the store and began looking through the shelves for the comic they were both looking for.

"Any luck on your side?" Jordan asked while searching.

"Nope, I think we should ask the cashier." Suggested Lincoln. They both made their way towards the cashier who looked at them and smiled.

"What can I do to help you?" Asked the cashier. After giving the name of the comic book the cashier went into the backroom to search before coming back out holding what they wanted.

"Here you go." The cashier said as he handed it to them. When it came time to pay Lincoln pulled out his wallet but was stopped by Jordan.

"Don't worry I can pay for us both, my treat." Lincoln wanted to refuse but was stopped when he realized that Jordan already paid for the comics.

"You didn't need to do that." Said Lincoln.

"Well, I did. Now let's go and find someplace to read." Jordan said with a smile.

"Alright then. Is there a library here?" Lincoln asked. Then he remembered how big the mall was and facepalmed for asking the question.

Jordan chuckled at Lincoln's question and response to his own question before grabbing his arm again and leading him to the library.

Then after arriving in the library the two sat down somewhere secluded and began reading the comic book they just bought. Since they at the shop only had one the two had to share one, which both of them had no problem with.

"I can't believe One-Eyed Jack and Ace aren't on the same team." Said Jordan surprised while being fully focused on reading.

"Me too. But you must admit their fight was pretty awesome." Lincoln said to Jordan, only receiving a simple nod from Jordan who was still focused on the comic.

After a while, the duo finished reading the comic book. They both got up and walked out of the library talking about their favorite moments from the comic. But to their surprise, they both shared the same favorite moment.

The talk between them was interrupted when Jordan's stomach alerted her of begin hungry. She checked the time and saw it was about time to get something to eat and decide to ask Lincoln.

"Hey, Lincoln." Jordan asked. Lincoln turned to her confused before Jordan continued. "Want to get something to eat?"

Lincoln thought about it until his stomach made a noise which indicated one thing.

"Yeah sure, I could go for some food." Lincoln answered. Then he saw that Jordan was deep in thought, probably thinking about which place to eat at. She finally decides and when Lincoln noticed that he was the one to grab her hand instead.

Jordan smiled a bit thinking about how often they hold hands at this point before leading the boy to a small restaurant. They both found a table to sit down and picked up the menu. It had nothing special, but Lincoln wasn't complaining, because everything looked good.

"So, what are you choosing?" Lincoln asked Jordan. He looked at Jordan who was thinking about what to choose clearly having trouble.

"Don't know. What are you choosing?" She asked Lincoln. Glancing at the menu one more time Lincoln chose what looked the most tastiest.

"I'm choosing the kebab special." Lincoln watched as Jordan looked at the menu once more before responding.

"Then I'll choose the same thing. I'm taking your word that this will be good." Jordan joked.

"Nah, this is totally disgusting." Said Lincoln sarcastically while smiling at Jordan.

Moments later the waiter arrived and they both chose the same thing. They waited for half an hour before their food arrived, they both began to dig in and enjoyed it.

"You lied Lincoln, you said that this will be disgusting." Said Jordan referring to when Lincoln was sarcastic.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry for the food being good." Joked the white-haired boy receiving a chuckle from Jordan.

"Hey Lincoln, could I ask you something?" Asked Jordan. Lincoln could sense the conversation tone switch upon that question being asked.

"Yeah sure." He answered simply.

"What were you thinking about in the car?" Jordan asked. Her curiosity didn't let her leave that question unasked and she hoped to get an answer.

Lincoln wasn't surprised to hear that question. And he wanted to answer but didn't know how to.

"I-I thought back to a memory with one of my sister." Lincoln answered.

"Was it a good memory?" She asked hopefully. But upon not receiving an answer she concluded that it was a bad one.

"Want to talk about it?" Jordan continued to ask. Lincoln thought about it before answering.

"Nah, don't want to think about it. That's why I came here, I needed to do something to get my mind off them." Lincoln said before resuming to eat his food. Understanding now why Jordan also continued to eat her food until they both finished. She did feel a bit of pride for helping Lincoln get his mind of his bad thoughts.

The waiter came back after seeing the two kids done with their meals and took the plates before coming back. Jordan reached for her wallet in her pocket but when she pulled it out, she noticed that the waiter left them.

"Too slow this time." Lincoln said with a smile while waving his wallet. Jordan smiled back before putting the wallet back and standing up along with Lincoln.

As they left the restaurant Jordan felt someone call her phone. She took her phone out and accepted the call.

"_Hey sweetie, how's it going?" _Asked Jordan's mother on the other side.

"Really great. We went to the comic store, read the comic we bought in the library and ate in a restaurant." Said Jordan happily.

"_Great to hear. I'm coming to pick you both up if that's okay with you."_ Said Jordan's mom.

"Sure, see you at the parking lot." Said Jordan before ending the call.

Lincoln stood beside Jordan while she was talking and could hear the whole conversation.

Jordan pulled her hand out urging Lincoln to hold it which he did without hesitation and they both began to walk to the parking lot.


	6. Schooled

As the sun was rising in Royal Woods a tired Leni Loud returned to the Loud house. With visible bags under her eyes and her friends holding her up by the shoulders she was carefully carried to the couch by her friends Miguel and Fiona.

"Guys I'm *yawn* not tired." Said Leni as her breathing became more slower when she was placed on the couch.

"We looked everywhere Leni. We all need to rest; all of your sisters are probably in school now." Said Fiona as she glanced at the clock.

"Look after you get some rest we can continue to look. Alright?" Asked Miguel. Receiving a small nod from the fashionista the two friends smiled and left the house leaving Leni alone.

Using all of her last energy Leni thought of an idea, she pulled out her phone and dialed the only sister who could help her.

Outside the house, both Miguel and Fiona discussed something before Fiona pulled out her phone and called her contacts.

* * *

Meanwhile, in school, the parents decided to drop off their kids to school except for Leni who they all knew was out looking for Lincoln.

As all the siblings left for school, they all looked either sad, lifeless or both. None of them wanted to be in school but knew that it was better than staying home and sulking in their pain.

"Mom after school is done could we help Leni search for Lincoln?" Luna asked her mom who sat in the driver seat.

"Luna, I don't know what to think. We are disappointed in you, all of you." Said Rita with visible stress while looking at her daughters.

"Mom! We can't let our little brother be out on the streets alone. Please!" Pleaded Luna while the other sisters looked on with puppy eyes. An audible sigh could be heard coming from the mother before she began nodding.

"Fine, you can help search for Lincoln today but after that, we'll look into your punishments girl." Luna's face lit up a small bit before she heard the bell ring. Realizing she has to go now she gave one last hug to her mom before running to her class.

In chemistry class, Luna was trying to lay her focus on where Lincoln could be. Her assignment paper soon found itself filled with words of her thoughts, every place he could be. Her worries didn't unnoticed as Sam Sharp looked at her girlfriend before sitting down beside her.

"Oh, hey Sam," Luna said emotionless. She was tapping her pen on the table pushing her mind to where he could have gone but her mind was clouded with the pain, the pain she caused him.

'It's your fault.'

'You could have stopped it but didn't.'

'You wanted it to happen.'

Those words broke her as she clutched her head wanting these thoughts gone. But they kept coming and tears formed in her eyes, now Sam was really worried and decide to speak.

"Ehh Luna, are you okay?" Sam asked but her question was answered when a crying Luna turned to her for support. Sam hugged Luna while the whole class including the professor was watching them. Sam looked at the professor who was nodding towards the exit awkwardly. Understanding his message Sam led Luna out of the classroom and outside where Luna could catch her breath.

The couple found themselves sitting on a public bench close to school. Sam managed to calm the rocker down but that still left one answer to be desired.

"Luna, what's wrong?" Sam asked Luna. As Luna tried to speak her breathes became hitched but after a couple of moments, she calmed down again and started to speak.

"I messed up Sam, both as a sister and as a person." The answer peeked the girlfriend's interest and she continued to comfort her.

"Hey, it's okay." Said Sam soothingly while brushing the back of Luna's back.

"No, it's not." Luna said as she covered her face with her hands in shame and to cover the tears that began forming again.

Luna proceeded to attempt to tell Sam what happened knowing better than to hide anything. If she would have hidden it, she would have been probably rot along with her emotions. The rocker didn't even dare to look at Sam while telling her. Luna knew what kind of looks she would recive from her if she looked and after she finished telling her Luna went silent wanting some kind of response from Sam.

"Sam?"

Nothing… just silence. If Luna couldn't see Sam's knee out of the corner of her eye, she would think that she left after the terrible things she admitted to.

"You're an idiot." Was all Sam said.

Luna sighed knowing that she was about to get bombarded with hate and swearwords. But she didn't, instead, Sam asked something else.

"Then what are you doing here? Go look for him!" A mad Sam said. Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing, Sam wasn't cussing her out or punching her in anger but instead trying to help her.

"Leni went looking after she found out. She has probably searched the entire town by the time she was out." Luna explained unhopeful on this whole situation.

"Does it matter. Search the town AGAIN!" Said Sam while full-on mad.

"He's your brother for god sake. The least you could do is to help find him." Sam said. Looking at Luna she noticed tears forming in her eyes and felt a tinge of sorrow for her.

"I want to but where would I search?" Said a distraught Luna with tears flowing down her eyes.

"You said to me once that you and he were the closest siblings. You know your brother better than anyone else." Sam explained motivationally. Sam was still angry don't get her wrong, but she knew that it was better to help Luna find her brother than letting her anger only scold her.

"Your right. I can't sit here and let my brother wander alone, what kind of sister would I be if I didn't try to fix this?" Luna asked herself.

"Thanks, Sam. Let's hope that it's going better for the rest of the sis's." Luna said, just then Sam took out her phone to get her mind of this situation and noticed something on it.

"Probably not…" Sam said as she handed the phone to Luna. On the phone was a detailed description of a boy who's missing, and worst of all it was labeled as family abuse. The details written matched perfectly to Lincoln when it mentioned the white hair. The detailed post was posted about 15 minutes ago, and Luna could already feel a knot in her stomach. The post had already garnered over 2 thousand views and Luna couldn't even dare to look at the comments of the post. While reading the post a small piece of text caught her eye which wrote down every member that was involved, it had everyone's name written down except Lori, Leni, and Lily. Luna could already feel the trouble coming up when she saw her name on the text and her heart practically froze in fear before being comforted by Sam who knew that she'd need some comfort now.

"Luna look, I think it's best if you go look for him now. School isn't the best option to be in right now." Said Sam who did feel bad for her girlfriend.

"Alright. I'm sorry I messed it up." Apologized Luna.

"Luna I'm not the one who is supposed to hear an apology." Sam said to Luna before continuing "Just go, maybe I could convince our bandmates to help you get some less heat from school."

"But I deserve it," Luna said.

"Well, I say otherwise. Now go before class ends." Sam finished.

With a final sigh, Luna quickly left school grounds and made her way towards… actually, she didn't know where she was heading. But that didn't deter her from what she wanted and what she wanted was to find and apologies to her brother.

* * *

Hours passed in school and after class ended the Loud siblings had its pure hell there. None of the students wanted to speak to them nor the teachers, of course, the Loud siblings found out why when Luan found the post sent to her by Benny of all people. She tried to contact him and explain but it proved to be difficult when she found out that her number was blocked. Then she tried asking Maggie who was also one of Luan's only friends about where Benny was, but she just watched her in judgment instead of saying anything.

Out in the soccer field, Lynn Loud was missing all of her shots because her mind was clouded with all bad, she had ever done to her brother. Her beliefs in the supernatural such as luck led her to do the first awful thing, then there were some small sibling things but this time, she took it too far and was paying the price. The coach had approached her and told her that she was temporarily suspended from all sports, it was only temporarily since that post could have been rumored but the coach still took some action and punished her. Her mindset as always was to take whatever was thrown at her but this time it proved way too much and for the first time in forever, she cried while hiding in the bathroom.

For the dark and gloomy Lucy Loud, her pain and sorrow for what she did came over her the moment she found out that her brother was gone. After realizing that a post explaining what they had done she was expectedly mocked and harassed in the lunchroom and class until she crawled back into her safe space which was the school vents. The young poet was also kicked from the mortician's club but didn't care since she mourned about her brother's disappearance. While from the looks of it the young girl didn't smile it didn't mean that she didn't carry emotions. She just had a different way of dealing with them that didn't show it to the public.

As for the two twins. They both got what they deserved. Both Lana and Lola were shunned by their class, Lana wasn't allowed to bring any more pets into the classroom and had to sit along with her twin alone since no one else wanted to be near the two. Lola probably had it the worst since she was no longer treated like a queen but instead as a nobody. The twins knew what they did and wanted to tell everyone that they were sorry but figured that it wouldn't do much since the damage had already been done.

For the young scientist, all of her schoolwork that was considered dangerous was taken away and not even Darcy wanted to speak to her which bummed her out. Lisa wasn't the most emotional loud shown evidently by all of the experiments she puts her siblings thru. But she did feel sorry for what she did and truly regretted what she did. Although Lisa knew that there was no chance that she could fix this, even if they found Lincoln the police would want a word as to what happened. And if he chose to tell the truth or not, he still ran away, and the police would be quick to take action.

So, the school day finally finished, and the Loud parents arrived quickly to the front of the school only to be met with vicious looks and their daughters coming in looking miserable.

"Mom there was this post an-" before Luan was able to finish, she was cut off by their mother.

"Yeah, we know. We got about 20 calls after the post went up." Explained .

"Wait where's Luna?" Asked Lynn who was looking outside the window.

"Don't worry. She messaged me that she's fine and she'll be back in a couple of hours." Said Rita with the same visible disappointment.

The drive home was quiet. And really what needed to be said? Nothing, they all messed up and we're paying the price for it in school. The siblings were just glad that the nightmare in school was over.

But another nightmare would begin for them as they approached the house, they noticed another car parked in the driveway next to their house. Both parents instantly realized whose it was and pulled up to the house.

Coming closer to the door Rita procced to unlocked it. When the door opened, they were greeted to a sight. Lori Loud was standing in front of them looking pissed off. All of the siblings were shocked to see her and knew what they were in for.

"I MOVE OUT THINKING THAT NOTHING BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN. BUT THEN I GET A CALL FROM LENI TELLING ME OF AN ACCIDENT." Lori freaked on the people in front of her.

"MIND EXPLAINING WHAT YOU DID. BECAUSE I MUST HAVE HEARD LENI WRONG SINCE SHE TOLD ME THAT YOU BEAT YOUR BROTHER UP ALL BECAUSE OF SOME STUPID ROOM." All of the siblings let out an audible gulp and Lori showed no sign of slowing down. doesn't

"Lori if you were just to cal-"

"MOM, NOW IS LITERALLY NOT THE TIME TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN. AND DON'T ACT LIKE I'M NOT INCLUDING YOU IN THIS."

"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. YOU BEAT YOUR BROTHER AND MADE HIM RUN AWAY BECAUSE HE DOESN'T FEEL SAFE AROUND YOU." Lori said with her final breaths before stopping to take some air in.

"I thought that nothing bad would come out of me moving out, but you managed to prove me wrong in the worst way possible." Lori continued; her voice was getting tired from screaming at her siblings, so she opted to tone it down.

"You are clearly bad parents if you only have to rely on your kids to take care of your other kids." Said Lori as she turned to her parents before something Lynn said caught her attention.

"Look Lori we didn't mean to. We just got really angry when Leni chose Lincoln." Lynn tried to explain.

"Don't blame Leni or Lincoln. Leni just wanted to be a good sister and knew that Lincoln lived in a closet for most of his life and thought the bigger room might make him happy."

"But you don't care about that and only want the room for your selfish gains." Lori scolded. Now, most of the siblings were looking down on the ground in shame. They all felt terrible for what they did but after the talk with Lori they all felt even worse

"Wait, where's Luna? I want to speak with her." Said an irate Lori. A shook Luan was about to say something but was stopped when the front door was kicked open by Luna who held something familiar in her hand.

At first, she was shocked to see Lori there and realized from the look of the siblings and the tears coming from their faces that Lori gave them a reality check.

"There you are, out of all the sisters I expected better from yo-" But before Lori could finish Luna cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah berate me later but look at what I found." Said Luna as she held out an orange hoodie covered in cuts looking terrible. The whole family could recognize the hoodie from anywhere.

It's Lincoln's


	7. Small Talks

**Hey guys TheCoffee here with Chapter 7. I decide to start answering some questions or thoughts on the authors notes. So if you have any questions or thoughts then you are welcomed to ask them in the reviews. I've also decided to try out some different writing styles this past week and the later part of the chapter might look a bit different due to that. Who knows you might not even notice it. Anyways enjoy the chapter!**

**Ronniecoln_88: Lily's not featured since she is a baby. If i had her in the story it would serve almost no purpose in my opinion. **

**Engineer1869: Yes Luna did get off pretty easy but she won't avoid Lori's judgement for so long. **

* * *

Buildings passed as Lincoln watched out the window of the car. Thinking back to the fun day he had with his girl-friend, Lincoln manages to crack a smile. Not knowing what would come next Lincoln relaxed on the car seat with Jordan on his side.

"So, what are we going to do when we get home?" Lincoln asked. Jordan turned to face him before giving him a suspicious smile.

"Just having a normal talk." Said Jordan. She didn't want to freak the young boy out by saying that he was going to talk to both her parents about his problem.

Taking that as his answer Lincoln returned to relaxing on his chair letting the vibrations of the car guide him to more relaxation.

But Lincoln didn't watch out for how tired he was and accidentally fell asleep, both Jordan and her mom were alerted when they heard deep breathes coming from the boy.

"Well, he certainly has it easy to sleep." Said the smiling mother.

"In his defense, he does live with his sisters. And from the rumors, I heard they do live up to the name Loud." Explained Jordan.

"I'm really hoping that dad could help us with this," Jordan admitted.

"Me too. Let's just see what happens when we come home." The mother said. Seeing her daughter nod in the rear mirror she continued to drive talking less as to not wake the Loud boy.

After the drive, Jordan's mom pulled up to their house which looked more like a mansion. Jordan saw a familiar car in the driveway indicating that her dad was home. Not wanting to carry the Loud boy out of the car Jordan nudges him enough to wake him.

He opened his eyes and let out a yawn. Lincoln looked around the car before looking outside to see where he was. Seeing that he was outside the house Lincoln and Jordan waited for the car to stop before getting out.

After opening the door Lincoln was blasted by the familiar cold air that he had grown to enjoy. He followed the two people who had helped him all this time to the front door where the two kids waited for Jordan's mom to open the door.

As soon as the door was opened both kids rushed in. Lincoln got rid of his jacket and shoes leaving them in their respective places.

"Hey there!" Someone said from the kitchen. All three turn to see a man sitting down in the kitchen holding a coffee cup filled with coffee. Instantly Lincoln became confused, but his confusion disappeared when Jordan reacted.

"Hey, Dad!" Exclaimed the young girl before running to her dad to hug him. All the while Jordan's mom also walks over to the kitchen to greet her husband.

"Hey honey, how was work?" Asked the mother before giving a quick peck on the cheek.

"Pretty great." Jordan's dad responded.

Meanwhile Lincoln is watching all of this from a distance not knowing what he should do. If he were to judge, this would probably be one of his most awkward moments except the time where he tried to impress Stella along with his other friends. But this came close.

After the family trio greeted each other the dad turned to see Lincoln standing there awkwardly. The dad waved for Lincoln to come over and Lincoln looked around not knowing if it was for him before walking to the kitchen.

"Hi." Lincoln simply greeted the father of Jordan.

"Hello! I'm Jack, I already assumed that you met my wife Kate." Said Jack with a warming smile. Well guess he learned something new, he didn't know that Jordan's mom was named Kate but the more you know.

"And I also assumed that you also met my daughter Jordan." Finished Jack.

"Yeah, I did," Lincoln said trying to not sound awkward which he failed… massively.

"Why don't you sit down?" Said Jack. Lincoln noticed the change of tone in his voice almost as if this was an interrogation but more friendly.

"Alright," Lincoln said still being suspicious at all of this. Meanwhile, while Lincoln was focused on Jack Kate led Jordan out of the kitchen so that Lincoln and Jack could talk alone.

"So, what's your name kid?" Jack asked friendly.

"Well, my name is Lincoln," Lincoln said plainly.

"Now how old are you?" Jack asked. Lincoln got confused at the simple question wondering why he was asking all of this.

"I'm 12 years old," Lincoln responded.

"Do you have any family?" Asked Jack. Lincoln visibly froze at the question which Jack noted in the back of his head.

"W-well yeah, I have 10 other sisters. I also have my parents and pop-pop." Lincoln said stuttering a bit.

"Big family, must get tiring to handle all of that chaos," Jack told Lincoln.

"Well yeah, but I guess that's the price I pay for living with a large family," Lincoln said while letting out a yawn. Meanwhile, Jack processed what the boy said and thought about his next move.

"Where do you see yourself in your family?" Jack asked. The question threw Lincoln for a loop since his view of what he meant changed over the past days. After struggling to find an answer in his head he managed to come up with something.

"I used to think that I was the likable one and had a connection with each and one of them but…" Lincoln trailed off not having the words to finish the sentence.

"But what?"

"But something happened that changed my mind about them," Lincoln explained

"What was it?" Jack already knew what happened but needed to know in more detail if he was going to help the kid.

"I-it started with my sister Lori moving out with her boyfriend Bobby. It left a room free which caused a war between my sisters. I tried to avoid it knowing that it would end as all the other times but when the room was given to me…" Lincoln didn't even want to finish the sentence. Memories began infiltrating his brain which caused him to remember everything, every punch, and pain he felt. A cold chill was set down his spine. Jack noticed this and didn't need to hear the end of the sentence to piece together what happened. But something was still on Jack's mind.

"Wait are you saying that stuff like this happened before?" Jack asked Lincoln surprised. Lincoln felt like he had no words to explain all the times this happened.

"Yes, but we made up in the end. As all siblings do." Lincoln explained.

"Just because your siblings make up doesn't mean it wasn't a bad thing or that everything's fine." Jack said to Lincoln.

"Now I want to ask you. What do you think about your sisters and parents now?" Jack asked. Yet another question that made Lincoln unsure. But after some thought, he came to an answer.

"Well some sisters I don't consider responsible like Leni, Lori, Lily, but the others I have mixed feelings for. My sister Luna especially stings since she was the sister, I trusted the most and relied on. But I guess a room matters more than any kind of sibling bond." Said Lincoln in a hurt manner. The visible hurt even stung Jack who was invested in the young Louds' life.

"Let's not focus on the bad Lincoln. Tell me about the sisters who aren't responsible." Said Jack trying to keep Lincoln from getting too sad or emotional.

"Well for starters there's Leni who wasn't responsible since she couldn't know that the choice would lead to something horrible. She is our sweetheart sister who wants nothing bad for anyone."

"Then there is Lori. When Lori lived with us, she kept the house under control. But after she moved out it led to all of this. But as Leni, she couldn't have know that her moving to would lead to this."

"And Lily, she's just a baby. And she wasn't even a part of this." Lincoln finished. After hearing Lincoln explain all of this, he gave it some thought before asking another question.

"Do you want to go back?" Jack asked straight forward. The question shocked Lincoln down to his core and he got anxious about what to answer.

"Kid it's okay if you take your ti-"

"No." Was the only word to leave Lincoln's mouth.

"No, I don't want to go back." Lincoln clarified. Jack accepted the answer and prepared the last question. One he hoped the boy would agree and say yes to.

"Lincoln, there is no easy way to say this. I want to get the law evolved in this, but I want to know if you want this. I want to know if I have your support in this." Jack explained as best as he could. Lincoln's face changed almost instantly upon hearing the question to a face of unsureness. An internal war was going on in his head, he knew that what his sisters did was not legal and that there would be a punishment. But was he really about to betray his family in exchange for revenge?

"I would want to take some time to think about it. Is that okay?" Lincoln asked. He looked over to see Jack nodding.

"As I wanted to say before. Take your time. Nothing needs to be decided today." Jack pointed out.

Then Jack stood up from his chair and reached over to shake Lincoln's hand which he did.

"It's been a great time talking to you Loud. If you have any questions just ask, alright?"

"Yes, I will. Thanks, Jack." After Lincoln had finished thanking the man in front of him, he stood up and left the kitchen. Upon leaving the kitchen Lincoln saw Jordan and her mom sitting on the living room couch talking about something, but their talk was interrupted when he came too close.

Jordan heard the footsteps and turned around to see Lincoln looking at them both. She jumped off the couch and ran in for a hug on the white-haired boy. Lincoln almost lost balance from the surprise hug he received but luckily didn't fall. Meanwhile, the mother watched on in awe of those two.

"How was it Lincoln? My dad wasn't too intrusive or anything?" Jordan asked him hastily. While the two started a conversation, Kate got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen knowing that her husband would want to inform her of what he learned.

"No no, he was fine." Answered Lincoln. After their hug split, he learned that her dad was a psychologist which explained the whole interrogation like talk. Lincoln was actually glad that he had that talk with Jack, it helped him vent some of his pain he was feeling on the inside.

Lincoln proceeded to explain to Jordan what he and her dad talked about and the choice he got from him. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Lincoln was struggling with it.

"And I don't know Jordan. My mind says that I should take the offer, but my heart says that I shouldn't do it." Lincoln said to Jordan. He entered a panicked state after he said that. His breathing became more erratic but a warm hand on his shoulder calmed him down.

"Lincoln don't stress about to much." Said Jordan before getting an idea. "Look how about we go and play some games on my PowerStation 4." Suggested Jordan which earned a small smile from Lincoln who agreed.

Lincoln followed Jordan to her room and was amazed at how much stuff there was inside. Band posters on the wall, dodgeball trophies on her desk, and as well as Ace Savvy comics all around the floor. Wait she didn't even live here, the thought of her actual room back in royal woods made Lincoln want to ask Jordan about it but when he looked over, he saw that Jordan was looking flustered.

"Sorry about my messy room. Didn't expect anyone else than my parents to come in." Jordan explained flustered but stopped when she heard a chuckle coming from Lincoln.

"Don't worry Jordan. What makes you think that my room wasn't messy." Lincoln said with a warming smile. Jordan smiled back at him with a chuckle of her own.

"So, what's the game for today?" Asked Lincoln. Jordan went over to her shelf and looked through all the games she owned before grabbing some of them and turning to Lincoln.

"Why not more than one?" Said with a smug grin. Jordan placed the games next to the console before taking out two beanbags from the corner of her room that both she and Lincoln sat down on.

For the next hours, Lincoln and Jordan played games and had fun. Most of the games Jordan would come out as the winner since she had the most experience with the games but sometimes Lincoln would manage to beat her in the game. Them hanging together and playing games helped Lincoln to get to know Jordan much better.

For example, the reason she is this good at dodgeball is that she played it with her relatives when they visited ever since she was 4 years old which shocked Lincoln. Meanwhile, Jordan learned that Lincoln liked to draw and hoped to become an artist one day.

After all of this Jordan realized how much she adored the boy she was currently helping. That he was still willing to protect his family from the law even after all they did to him. And that he was a genuinely nice guy who always seemed to want to help. Like when he gave Jordan his controller after her controller ran out of batteries. She asked if he needed help searching for batteries, but he said that he didn't want to stop her fun with the game.

It warmed her heart and his smile was intoxicating to her and she smiled every time she saw that smile. Jordan was actually surprised that she almost never hung out with him in school, after all, they share the same interests and likes. He and she were more compatible together than probably all of her friends.

Of course, she recognized what she was feeling. She wasn't dumb after all; she knew what the signs pointed to. Jordan knew that she'd have to think about it more but from the looks of it. Jordan liked Lincoln as something more.


	8. Search for Their Bro

***Blows party horn* Hello there, TheCoffee here with another chapter. Out of all the times I could have released a chapter I chose to do it on April 9:th. What's so special about that date? My B-Day *blows party horn again*. Anyways that's not important, what is important is this chapter since I attempted to write the girl's emotions in all of this. I hope I did a great job at writing the emotions but that up to you to decide. Anyways, on to the Review Responses.**

**MegaRiderKnux: Jordan and her parents are in New York because they are on vacation. Might have forgotten to mention that in the previous chapters.  
**

**cabgrant: The parents have a soundproofed room. Might not be the best for safety reasons but they have done stupider stuff in other episodes of the show.  
**

* * *

The sisters were all shocked to see their brother's hoodie being held by Luna. But what really scared them was how damaged it was, and most likely it came from them. Their parents almost broke down crying when they saw his hoodie and the sisters all looked down in shame except Lori who still had some resentment against Luna. But she had to push it aside for now.

"Where did you find it?" Lori asked Luna. Luna could hear the sour tone to Lori's voice and knew that she was going to get what she deserved later.

"I saw this in a trash can, at that store, you know, the one next to the train station." Luna recounted. It didn't hit her until then that Lincoln may not be in Royal Woods anymore. But she wasn't the only one to realize that as all sisters recognized the possibility.

"You don't think that…?" But before Lynn could finish an audible sigh could be heard from .

"Kids, we need to consider the possibility. Okay Lori, Luna, Luan, and Lynn you all are with me. We'll search at the train station and the store while you honey stay here with the kids." Lynn. Sr said before putting on his jacket along with the other five sisters.

"That's not fair. We want Lincoln back as much as you do" Said Lana with a tear forming in her both her eyes. Seeing Lana brake down like this was much of a surprise to the entire family. Rita bent down to Lana in order to comfort her.

"We all miss Lincoln sweetie. But it's best if we leave it up to dad. Alright?" Asked Rita before hugging her daughter. Moments later all of the younger sisters joined the hug needing the support.

Without wasting any time, the older group left the house and drove away in vanzilla. The ride was mostly quiet except for the radio, which was playing music, Luna soon began humming along to the tune to calm herself down from this whole situation but couldn't. And with the hard looks she received from Lori, it was hard to forget what she did.

The van soon arrived at the store where Luna found his hoodie. It was an average-sized store that was close by the train station, Luna didn't even want to imagine that Lincoln ran away with the help of the train. Where would he even go? Lincoln would be all alone, scared, and cold because of what they did… Because of what she did. Her act of rage broke the bond with her most trusted siblings that she had, and she felt absolutely horrid about it. But she couldn't let her sorrow stop her from finding her brother, even if she did hurt him, she will make up to him at any cost.

Meanwhile, Luan sat at the back of the van looking out with a sour pain inside of her. The pain that came from the damage she caused her brother, not only with the fight but overall. All of her pranks on April fools hurt her brother and she laughed. What kind of sister laughs at her own brothers' pain? The answer was her. She was the one to use one of his friends to bait him out to take pranks for his friend. Even after that, he was always open to listen to her jokes and help her with birthday parties. But this time they all crossed the line and to Lincoln's breaking point.

Lynn meanwhile was having her own sins tearing her down. She couldn't believe herself that she hurt her brother and caused all of this, she was supposed to protect him but instead became the one to hurt him. And Lynn knew that if anything were to happen to Lincoln, she would blame herself for it forever. It hurt her on every level knowing that she didn't turn around before the fight and stop it. But she didn't. Did she want it to happen? The thought came as fast as it disappeared, and Lynn freaked mentally that she would even think about that. She didn't want anything bad for her brother. 'But then why did you do it?' Said a voice in her head. If Lynn wasn't currently determined to find her brother, then she would have broken down crying right there and now.

Luna and her other siblings went into the store and straight to the cashier to ask questions.

"Hello sir! How can I help you?" Asked the cashier.

"We were wondering if there was a boy that visited this store a couple of days ago?" Asked a worried . The cashier took notice of this and knew that it was important, so he thought back.

"Well, I have had a couple of customers who were kids. Could you describe him?" The cashier asked. Instead of saying something Lynn. Sr pulled out a photo of Lincoln that he kept in his wallet.

"Here, he has white hair and a chipped tooth." Lynn. Sr explained while the sisters looked on hopefully. After examining the picture, the cashier was about to tell that there was no one here with white hair until he remembered one customer.

"Yeah there was this boy, he wore a hood so I couldn't see his hair, but he definitely had a chipped tooth." The cashier explained lighting the fire of hope in the family's eyes.

"Wait was he wearing an orange hoodie?" Asked Luna who wanted to confirm it to 100%. And the family both felt relieved when the cashier nodded yes. The family finally had a clue to where Lincoln was, but the clue led them to one probable conclusion.

The family thanked the cashier for his help before leaving the store and heading towards the train station close by. The family was both relieved but worried what this clue meant for them.

"So, you think he actually used the train?" Asked Lori while walking along with the rest of them to the train station.

"Maybe he didn't, we don't know for sure yet. All we do know is that we have to search for our little bro." Luna said before getting a sharp glare from Lori.

"Why do you even bother calling him your 'bro' after what you did to him?" Shouted Lori who had enough of Luna getting away from what she deserved.

"Because he's my brother and I care for him!" Luna who at this point was mad.

"If you really did then would you be in this situation, would he be in a situation where he's far from home and scared of you?" Asked Lori who also was speaking angrily and menacingly.

Luna didn't know how to respond to this and looked down knowing that Lori was right. But Lori wasn't done with her yet.

"Don't assume that if you find our brother that everything will turn out fine. He's probably going to develop trust issues towards all of you because of this." Lori berated Luna before a loud voice stops them both.

"That's enough girls!" Said Lynn. Sr who knew that her daughter was getting what she deserved but it didn't matter now. All that mattered was finding his son which he couldn't stop from being hurt. What kind of parent lets their kid get hurt? A terrible one.

The conversation between Lori and Luna ended but not before Lori shot another look at Luna saying, 'This is not over.'

The rest of the walk was even quieter than in the van, but they managed to arrive at the train station just as a train had left. They all headed towards the ticket booth where a woman could be seen smiling at them.

"Hello! Where would you like to travel?" She asked but Lynn. Sr got right to the point.

"I was just wondering if this boy had bought a ticket a couple of days ago?" Asked before handing out the same picture as he gave the cashier. But after some examination and thinking, the ticket salesperson shook her head.

"I don't know, sorry but I only started working here yesterday." Said the ticket salesperson leaving the family distraught that they lost their only clue to Lincoln. But Lynn. Jr wasn't having any of it.

"Listen here Ms. Bad Education led me here. My brother is out there somewhere alone and probably freezing because of something I didn't stop." The family could hear Lynn's voice break the more she talked "My brother could be dead somewhere in an alley and it would be all my fault because I couldn't help him!" and soon tears flood her eyes as she finished. Everyone looked surprised as Lynn spilled her emotions to the ticket salesperson. Luan came forth and comforted Lynn before pulling her aside to take some breaths.

"Alright normally I would need the mangers permission but since it's clearly some important stuff I might be able to help you." The family looked on in hope as she began to type away on the computer checking all the purchases during that time and date which gladly assisted in giving.

"Okay it says here that there were two train's that departed around that time. One for Springfield Illinois and another for New York." They are were shocked at the distance where Lincoln could have gone.

"You're joking, right?" Said Lori not believing what she is told. But a confirming nod from her says that it's true.

"What did I miss?" Asked Luan who came back with Lynn. Lynn was looking a bit better but was still sad from the number of emotions she let out.

After catching up with them both of where Lincoln could be, they head home in the van. It was the same silence as before but at least Lori didn't give Luna a bad stare, but Luna could sense that there still was a bad feeling coming from Lori about her. Luan had surprisingly been silent the entire trip and only really interacting with reality when she comforted Lynn. Lynn still had some dried tear marks on her face and looked deep in thought not saying anything for the entire ride. Needless to say, the girls came back worse than when they went out. Upon returning home Rita rushed to them for information.

"Did you find him?" Rita asked full of hope. All of them looked uneasy and didn't know how to break the news to her.

"HE'S WHERE!?" Exclaimed shocked Rita when Lynn. Sr explained where he could be. The loud shout notified everyone else of their return and soon all the rest of the sisters flooded down where they were informed of Lincoln's possible location.

"Look honey we don't know for sure. He just maybe bought some new clothes in a store that also happened to be next to the train station." Lynn. Sr said trying to play down the idea of Lincoln running away that far. But the odds were stacked against them as Lincoln did buy new clothes and there were people at the same time who bought tickets for the train.

While everyone panicked at the thought of Lincoln leaving Lori knew that panic wouldn't get them anywhere.

"Alright listen up! I know you all have regrets over what you did but sitting here and doing nothing won't help us in bringing him home!" Said Lori taking on the role of a leader. All of the sisters turned to Lori and looked at her awaiting her next speech.

"We need to think straight and not let panic, fear or regret take over our minds."

Everyone was surprised by Lori's motivation speech and they all slowly realized that they needed to focus else they wouldn't accomplish their goal.

Just as Lori finished her motivational speech an awoken Leni walked down the stairs starting a tension between her and those who wronged Lincoln. Leni was still visibly tired with her hair being uncombed and messy, she had heard everything while coming down and listened in for what more there was to say. She didn't look at her siblings that were responsible for all of this and that broke their hearts that their sweetheart sister didn't even look at them.

"Okay look, if theoretically, Lincoln had left using the train. Where would he have gone out of the two places?" Luna asked finally getting the gut to speak. A tense silence followed, and nobody knew what to answer.

"Perhaps I have an idea." Said Lisa who was sitting on the couch beside Rita getting comforted along with the other younger siblings. Lisa's eyes showed that she'd been crying which surprised everyone again, they thought that she and Lucy would be the last ones to cry but the evidence showed otherwise. Even Lucy's cheek had a fresh tear mark that wasn't visible because she was hidden in the shadows not wanting to be seen like this.

Ever since she found out Lincoln ran away; she'd been trying to hide out of everyone's views and hide from the hurt she had caused. The mere thought of her brother made her feel more empty as memories of what she did flood her mind more and more. Silently crying in the darkness Lucy blamed herself for Lincoln running away and thought that she didn't deserve to be comforted because of her vile and sick deed. She watched on as Lisa began to explain as she puts it 'her hypothesis'.

"I believe that our brotherly unit *sniffles* has gone to New York." Lisa begins before catching her breath from all the whimpers. "He would choose that location since he would want to stay as far away from us as possible." That was Lisa's final sentence before she collapsed under her own words and began to cry into Rita who stroked her hair to calm her down.

Another wave of sadness hit them when Lisa said that Lincoln would try to get as far away from them as possible. Lori glanced at Leni to see how she was doing but Leni was just looking on the ground and Lori could sense the emotions she carried inside.

Lori understood how hard it had to be for Leni in all of this and walked up to her and gave her a hug without questions. Leni gladly accepted really needing a hug after all of this and didn't Leni didn't hold back her tears instead, she let them flow down and onto Lori's shoulder.

"It's okay Leni. It's not your fault." Lori said soothingly to her. Shuddered breaths were released, and Lori could feel the entire weight of Leni on her shoulders. Both figuratively and literally.

The family was heart warmed at the sight, but it couldn't deter them from what's currently more important.

"Lisa, are you 100% sure that Lincoln will be there?" Asked Rita wanting to confirm every bit of information they had. Lisa was still crying but managed to nod to her mother and with that Rita knew there was only one option. Lynn. Sr also knew what Rita was thinking about and with an unspoken agreement between them Rita spoke up.

"Girls were going to New York." All of the girls looked unsure of that decision and knew that it was a big risk to take. But the family put their faith in Lisa and started to prepare to head to New York.


	9. When Worlds Collide Pt1

**Hey guys, TheCoffee here. First of all, thanks for your birthday wishes and reviews, you all deserve a medal. Also, sorry that I took longer than normal to post this chapter, I had some IRL stuff going on that I needed to handle. I don't know if this chapter turned out good since this was written in small chunks over multiple days unlike how my chapters are normally written. But from the looks of it turned out fine. Now onto the story, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

After the decision was made everyone in the family prepared to head to New York. Everyone was prepared in less than 10 minutes due to them all not wanting to waste any time. The family had decided to go by train like their brother did since it was cheaper and paying for all of them would be expensive on any other form of transportation. Before arriving at the train station, the family stopped by the retirement home to leave Albert with Lily. They made up a lie about why

And now all of them found themselves on the train anxiously waiting. The train had left about a half an hour left before it arrived at its destination. There wasn't really much talk between the family except for the times where Rita asked if everyone was okay and tried to comfort her children.

And currently, Rita and Lori sat beside each other making them both open for a conversation. Ever since they stepped on the train Lori had begun to question if it was really a good idea for them all to search for Lincoln.

"Mom, is it really a great idea for all of us to search for Lincoln? What if he's afraid of them or even mad?" Lori said quietly as to not let the others hear of their conversation.

"Lori, right now it doesn't matter if he's angry or afraid. He is still their brother and he out in this big city where you could get seriously hurt. Finding him is the first step, only then can we start to make things right." Rita in a quiet tone. While Lori did agree with her mother that finding Lincoln is their top priority her mind was still bothered by what would happen when they found him.

"I know but look at every one. What if Lincoln hates them, they are already hurt from what they did. This might only add fuel to the fire." Lori explained. She looked at all of her sisters sitting on their seats. Luna was sitting with Leni and from the looks of it Leni still wouldn't look at any of her siblings, Luan and Lynn sat beside each other and Lynn were asleep while Luan gazed out the window of the train out of touch with reality, Lucy had been sitting all alone the entire trip never speaking to anyone, the twins sat next to each other and didn't speak either nor bother each other, and lastly Lynn. Sr sat with Lisa who was sleeping while leaning on him. Overall, everyone was feeling horrible and kept it to themselves.

"What if we don't find him?" Lori asked the one-million-dollar question. It was fair to say that Rita didn't have an answer to this question but still managed to blurt something out.

"If we don't find him then we'll have to resort to the police." Said Rita with unwillingness in her voice. Of course, this made sense since if Lincoln was found there would be questions asked and if Lincoln even told a small bit of the truth then the parents could really get into trouble.

"Mom you and dad could go to jail if Lincoln slips up and says something," Lori said with some panic in her voice of the thought that her parents could go to jail.

"Lori, finding my only son is more important than anything right now," Rita explained. Lori felt bad for her parents since they were practically innocent and couldn't control the situation... for the most part. Rita then notices her daughter's alarming state and attempts to calm her down.

"Look, honey, let's not worry about it now. Let's just try to find Lincoln." Rita said to Lori assuring her that nothing bad will happen right now.

Meanwhile, with Leni and Luna, the two girls had a silence that stood upon a thick tension. Luna hadn't dared to even hum a song to herself due to the anxious tension. She wanted to tell Leni how sorry she was, but would she even listen to her or would she ignore her? But Luna knew she had to try, so she gathered up every bit of courage and rolled words of her tongue.

"Leni, I know after all of this it's hard to believe but… I'm sorry for all of this." Luna began while looking at Leni who didn't react in any way. "Everything me and my bro had was ruined and I'm not seeking forgiveness from you. I just want you to know that I regret everything down to my core." Luna finished.

"It hurts to remember what I did to him b-but" before Luna could finish her voice began to stagger and her words went into thin air. A cold chill went down her spine as Leni turned to her. She had visible tear marks from before and a blank expression which Luna couldn't read.

"I don't care for your regrets Luna. They all are the faults that YOU caused. Now you seek someone who could tell that you are better than this and can do better… but you can't." Leni said coldly before turning back away leaving Luna stunned that Leni could even say something like that. From all Luna knew this wasn't the sweetheart and airheaded sister they once knew. And the words she threw at her gave her more weight to her chest that she couldn't seem to shake off.

Then the train shook a little which didn't snap Luna out of her thoughts, but it did awake a certain brunette who had been sleeping. As her teared-up eyes opened she glanced to her side to see Luan and her other sisters confirming to her that all of this wasn't a bad dream just like she had dreamt. The dream was still clear in her head, it was a dream which showed Lincoln dead on the ground and her standing over him with bloody fists. Lynn wiped the tears that had formed away which alerted Luan.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Luan asked concerned which was something you didn't hear often from Luan. Lynn reseated herself to a more comfortable position before letting out a huge sigh.

"Horrible can't even describe it. It just feels like it's my fault that he isn't here." Lynn said disheartening Luan.

"It's not your fault, it all of our faults for being bad sisters to him. You can't only blame yourself." Luan explained but Lynn shook her head.

"It's not only what happened then but what happened before." Lynn plainly put it out. What she meant was all of the times she was an annoying sister to him such as when he let her stay in his room, but she was disrespectful and didn't listen to his rules. Even small things as calling him Stinkcoln might have counted as another reason why Lincoln ran away. But Lynn knew she was stretching it by a bit. Every time her brother was nice to her she had responded with disgrace and taking her brother's kindness for granted.

"Lynn have you forgotten about my April fools' pranks. I laughed while Lincoln suffered so don't think that you'll have it the worst from Lincoln." Luan said angrily. Lynn was taken aback by the response her sister let out, but it was understandable.

"Yeah, I get it," Lynn said in defeat but before anything else could happen Lynn felt two arms wrap around her.

"Just because you don't have it the worst doesn't mean you don't deserve a hug," Luan whispered to Lynn. Lynn felt a small bittersweet smile crawl up her face as she hugged back.

What the two didn't know was that Lucy watched from afar with a dead expression. Sitting all alone on the train by choice allowed her to reach the inner part of her thoughts and stay there as a safe space where nothing of this ever happened.

"_Attention all passengers. We will be shortly arriving at our destination. Please wait for the train to stop before getting up and we hope that you have enjoyed your journey." Said the man thru the speaker._

All of the family were alerted, and it was really then it sunk in how far from home they were. Each and one of them glanced out the window and saw the snowfall, there were plenty of beautiful sights but that didn't matter.

After a couple of minutes, the train came to a complete stop and each family member prepared to get off. But they had to wait since lots of people made a row to the exit, but they managed to pull thru and exit the train finally feeling that cold air again.

The sign saying 'Welcome to New York' made it obvious that they had arrived at the right place. As all of the family put on their jackets that they took off in the train Lynn. Sr picked up some luggage that they had prepared. It wasn't much except for clothes and some other miscellaneous stuff.

"Alright, girls let's firstly find a hotel before we start," Rita said reviving some disappointed nods from the daughters.

"Don't worry, the sooner we get a room the sooner we can start searching." Lynn. Sr said in a positive tone trying to keep the girls in a better mood.

Rita then proceeded to pull up a map of the whole place searching for a hotel to stay at that didn't cost too much. "Don't worry mom I got it." Said Lori who had already found a place using data on her phone while on the train.

Rita looked at the place and agreed to it. "Okay girls let's go catch a bus."

A bus ride later all of the family arrived at the hotel. Wasting no time, the family checked in quickly and dumped their stuff in the multiple rooms they had. The rooms all looked the same with 2 or 3 beds each. After everything was sorted the family met up in the lobby.

"Alright girls first and foremost don't get sidetracked. We're only here for your brother so no shopping." Lynn. Sr started. "And also New York is nothing like Royal Woods so be careful." Lynn. Sr finished.

"We all work as a team. Lisa, Lola, Lana, and Lucy you'll be coming with me since I don't trust you to go out alone." Rita said firmly.

"Yes, your right honey, Lori, Leni, Luna you'll be on your own to help cover more ground." Lynn. Sr added leaving Lynn. Jr and Luan confused about why they are not involved.

"What about us." They said in unison slightly mad. "Don't worry, you and Luan will be on one team since you are still a bit too young to walk alone," Rita answered making both teens sigh in relief.

"Now remember if anything happens then keep in touch through your phones and we all meet up here before 7," Rita stated the rules which everyone agreed to.

With the rules set and nothing else holding them back all of them went out into the unknown place which was New York with one goal in their mind. Find Lincoln.

Meanwhile, at Jordan's house, two kids were playing video games with a smile.

"Come on!" Lincoln groaned as he lost another match against Jordan leaving her to chuckle at the boys' annoyance.

"I did say that I wouldn't go easy on you Loud," Jordan exclaimed as she playfully punched his shoulder. They had been sitting still and playing games for about 2 hours now without interruption until a knock surfaced on her door.

"Jordan honey, me and dad are heading out for our weekly dinner. Think you'll handle yourself?" Asked Kate. Jordan nodded while keeping her eyes on the screen trying not to lose to the white-haired boy.

"Okay, we'll be back in about an hour. Good luck on your play date." Teased Jordan's mom before leaving the room. A blush almost instantly spread on Jordan's face and Lincoln quickly got the upper hand thanks to the distraction.

"_Lincoln WINS!" _Announced the game as Lincoln let out a victory smile. Meanwhile, Jordan tried to cover her blush as to not get more embarrassed.

"Finally!" Lincoln shouted finally managing to win against Jordan. Meanwhile, Jordan looked on a bit surprised that Lincoln did not blush nor care about her mothers' comment. A small worry boiled up in her stomach that maybe he only saw her as a friend and that is why he did not react.

"Hey, everything okay Jordan?" Lincoln asked who saw Jordan's sudden face expression switch.

"Yeah, it's just… I thought that you would have a larger reaction to my mom's comment." Jordan said sheepishly. Then she heard Lincoln chuckle a bit.

"Yeah living in a big house with my _sisters_ makes you a target for those comments. Guess I'm used to it." Lincoln said while Jordan flinched at the word _sisters. _A question the formed in her mind which she was unsure if she wanted to ask.

"Hey, everything ok?" Lincoln asked kindly noticing her face shift tones. After a bit of hesitation, Jordan began to speak.

"Lincoln, I want your honest opinion of something." Jordan started. Lincoln's head perked up in confusion before he nodded.

"Do you… _hate you sister?_" Jordan asked silently hoping that he wouldn't hear it, but Lincoln heard it and froze making Jordan instantly regret asking that.

"I'm sorry Lincoln. I shouldn't have asked you that." Jordan apologized profusely while Lincoln stood there and proceeded the question.

"No, its fine Jordan, don't worry," Lincoln said as he put his hand on her shoulder assuring her that it was fine. But the question still remained, did he hate his sisters for everything?

"I… I don't know. One part of me… wants me to hate them until the day I die. But the other wants things to go back to normal. Before all of this and before Lori moved away." Lincoln said unsurely. Jordan was wordless to what to say but knew that Lincoln waited for a response from her.

"Am I a bad person for wanting to hate them? I mean they did do a horrible thing, but they must have already suffered enough." Jordan couldn't believe what she was hearing from him and instantly went irate.

"Lincoln are you kidding me. They dared to lay a finger on you because of SOME ROOM!" Jordan shouted angrily. She didn't say it verbally, but she despised Lincoln's sisters. She hoped that Lincoln would never have to meet his terrible sisters again. The sisters could tell that they were sorry repeatedly to anyone but even with that her hate for them would burn eternal.

"Listen to me and listen closely. You are anything and everything except a bad person." Jordan assured Lincoln. "You have made my days here in New York so much better that I can't express it enough," Jordan told the boy with tears forming in her eyes.

"Your kind, gentle, considering, and I'm glad we met." Jordan hugged Lincoln as tears flowed down her eyes and Lincoln didn't hesitate to embrace her.

The two stood there without saying a word only keeping each other in their embrace not wanting to let go. It wasn't until the game screen dimmed from the amount of time that passed which snapped both of them out of the trance.

As the hug released another blush crept up on her but she didn't worry about it since Lincoln had the same fate.

"Thanks, Lincoln, guess I needed it more than I thought," Jordan said as she wiped a tear away from her slightly red eyes.

"Maybe you're right Jordan. I shouldn't think of myself like that, they caused this." Lincoln started. "Maybe it's time that I start thinking and speaking for myself," Lincoln announced earning a smile from Jordan.


	10. When Worlds Collide Pt2

**Hello there and welcome to Chapter 10! I've finally entered the double digits on a story! Also, I want to thank all of you who have supported this story this far by following it/reviewing/favoriting. Anyway, onto the story and hope you enjoy it!  
**

**Engineer1969: Thank you for your nice words!**

**Echo009: Yeah, my grammar wasn't the best last chapter. But hopefully, this chapter is better.  
**

**cabgrant: I did forget that Lynn. Sr had a restaurant but to make it simple let's just say he got a substitute to replace him for now.  
**

* * *

As all of the sisters split off Lori found herself going in the same direction as her sister Leni. They had been walking in the same direction for almost 10 minutes and Lori started to suspect that Leni was just following her.

Being only a couple of steps ahead of her Lori glanced back to confirm that Leni was still on her tail. Lori didn't mind Leni following her but couldn't understand why. If Leni wanted to talk then she would have already spoken to her. But being the good sisters that she was Lori decided to start the conversation by stopping in her tracks and waiting for Leni.

"Hey Leni, is everything okay?" Lori said awkwardly. She didn't know what to ask her blonde sister but knew that a question was better than no question at all.

"…"

"I understand Leni, this all must be hard for you especially. But you don't have to stay mute, you can talk to me." Lori assured her sister. Out of the corner of her eye, Lori saw Leni turn her head a bit to her.

"I… I hate them all," Leni said giving a small shock to Lori as she never expected her sister to act that way. Lori knew that hate was a strong word but also knew that Leni meant it.

"I know you do and there's no excuse for what they did," Lori said. Lori was about to say something but lost the words when Leni turned to her with puffy red eyes and fresh tears running down her cheek.

"I failed as his sister Lori. I was supposed to be the oldest in the house, I was supposed to be like you and keep everything in order." Leni said as she let more tears flow down her eyes.

"But I'm not like you…"

"No Leni you aren't like me, you are my sweetheart sister that always wants the best for everyone." Lori started. At this point, Leni had her head fully turned to Lori who talked.

"You don't need to be like me Leni. I kind of wish I was like you sometimes." Lori said while comforting her sister.

"Why? I'm just a dumb blonde that everyone laughs at." Leni said as she looked to the ground.

"Leni would a dumb blonde have handled being a manager of a clothes store at the mall and would a dumb blonde learn how to drive in just a few days?" Lori said to Leni. Leni's head tilted up a bit before letting out a small smile.

"Thanks for listening out to me Lori," Leni said gratefully receiving a small hug from Lori.

After that small chat, the two decided that they would stick together and search. As they walked the wonderful streets Lori got a call on her phone from her mom.

"Hey mom," Lori answered.

"Hey sweetie, any luck?" Rita asked.

"Sadly, no. How are little ones doing?" Lori asked over the phone.

"I guess it's going okay. Lucy just follows us silently, and the twins have barely said anything, and Lisa is just being Lisa." Rita answered.

"Well, thanks for calling mom. But I'll be resuming to search." Lori said with a sigh.

"Okay, good luck. Love you." Rita said. Then there was a silence, Lori fully knew what her mom expected her to say.

"Love you too." Lori expelled quickly before ending the call and continuing to walk along with Leni.

As the two walked through the large city Lori noticed Leni's face shift the longer they walked. And after a while it got to the point where Lori had to ask.

"Leni are you alright?" Lori asked while glancing at her sister. She turned to her again and gave a small nod.

"Yeah I'm fine" Leni answered trying to sound as convincingly as possible. Of course, having shared a room with Leni for some time Lori instantly recognized the lie.

"Are you sure?" Lori asked again trying to press on. Then Leni looked down and answered.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Lori was completely surprised thinking that it was something more serious.

"Then let's go," Lori said while looking around for a place with a bathroom.

"But we'll be wasting time," Leni complained which Lori understood why. But personal health mattered more right now.

"We are wasting time as we speak, now let's go," Lori answered as she grabbed her hand and dragged Leni to a restaurant that she knew would definitely have a bathroom.

The restaurant was one of those expensive ones where people would go during their honeymoon or during some other special day. It had a very classic style and it was almost filled with couples having a peaceful dinner. As they both came in a bell rang which alerted a waiter.

"Hello, ladies could I get you a table?" The waiter asked nicely while Lori shook her head.

"No thanks. Where's your bathroom?" Lori asked and the waiter pointed in the right corner of the restaurant where two doors could be seen leading to the different bathrooms. Leni then walked off leaving Lori who didn't need to go to.

Having nothing else to do Lori found herself examining the restaurant with her eyes which scanned every corner. As she continued to wait for her sister a small sound coming from one of the couples snuck itself into his ear.

"- Lincoln." That name practically made her jump and look in the direction of where it came from. But realizing that it might be some other guy named Lincoln Lori chose to ignore it.

"That poor boy. He's been thru so much, I'm glad that our girl found him." Said a male voice. At this point, Lori was suspicious and thought to a slight chance that it could be her brother. Lori slowly crept up on the couple and listened in just to calm her mind.

"What did he say. About involving the police?" A feminine voice asked the man who was her husband. Lori still stayed silent but as she continued to look at the couple, she noticed that they looked familiar.

"He said that he will give it thought. But…" The man said before trailing off which caught the suspicion of both the wife and Lori.

"But?"

"I got a call yesterday from one of my pals back in Royal Woods and there are rumors about what happened." Lori froze to the bone when she heard her hometown being mentioned. She knew that there was no doubt that it was Lincoln. It all lined up too perfectly to her.

"And I'm guessing it's not long before the police get involved." The wife guessed receiving a confirming nod from the husband.

"Yeah. But at least Lincoln won't have a bad conscience from screwing his family over." The husband responds leaving both Lori and the wife mouths gape.

"Come on Jack you can't say that." Said the wife trying to keep things quiet.

"The family will get what they deserve. It is law Kate. You should know this." Jack answered sternly.

Then Jack turned to reach for his fork to begin eating but notices Lori staring out of the corner of his eye.

"What do you want kid?" Jack asked catching Lori red-handed.

"I-I was wondering if you were talking about the s-same person?" Lori answered sheepishly.

"Who?" Jack asked. As Lori left her spying spot Jack and Kate got a better view of the girl and Jack couldn't help but to notice a similarity. But it wasn't until Lori answered when Jack understood.

"Lincoln… Loud." Lori then took a deep breath before letting more words flow. "My brother."

Then there was nothing but silence cutting deeper into her than anything could. Both of them look at each other for a short second before Jack stands up.

"It's time for us to leave honey," Jack said as he reached into his wallet and left the money on the table. Both he and Kate then put their jackets on and began walking away. But before Jack could leave the restaurant a hand grabs his shoulder. And as he glances behind him, he notices it being someone else that looked like Lori.

"You're not leaving until you talk to us." Said Leni who was holding onto the shoulder tightly not letting. Leni had left the bathroom at around the time Lori was caught but luckily wasn't seen herself.

Jack then started to weigh his options before Kate put her hand on Jack's other shoulder.

"Jack just let them talk, but not here. Too many people are watching us already." Kate said as all of them look to her the customers looking at them confused.

An audible sigh escapes Jack's mouth. "Fine, let's talk outside."

The grip was released from Jack's shoulder slowly as they all four left the restaurant but both Lori and Leni kept their eyes one those two wondering what they knew.

Both Leni and Lori didn't know where they were going but Jack knew as well as Kate. They all four turned a right and walked into a forest.

"Look we've walked enough. Can you just answer if it was my brother you were talking about?" Lori said who got too impatient, but Jack didn't answer nor did Kate. Instead, both Leni and Lori were asked a question.

"Do you know what this place is?" Jack asked while looking around the path.

"A park?" Lori answered unsure of what answer Jack wanted.

"No, this was the place my daughter found your brother all alone and far from home," Jack said. Both sisters' eyes widen, and a certain chill goes down their spine.

"And then my daughter told my wife who told me and trust me when I say that I couldn't believe what I was hearing," Jack answered unbelievably. He really couldn't believe what his wife had told him when he got the call.

"You're lucky that your brother somehow still cares for you." Jack honestly wondered why Lincoln still cared. He knew that some sisters weren't responsible or accountable but still after all that went down. Any kid would want to be as far away as possible from them, responsible or not.

"Look our sisters never meant to hurt him-" But Lori was but off.

"Never meant to hurt him isn't the same as didn't hurt him. And you failed to mention yourself in this whole situation. Could it be that you don't see yourself responsible?" Jack asked touching one of Lori's nervers making her angry.

"Listen here, I wouldn't dare to lay a finger on him! I wasn't responsible for any of this and neither was she." Lori said while pointing at Leni who had tears falling down her eyes. At that point Jack realized something.

"What's your name?" Jack asked seriously. Lori was unsure why he wanted to know that but decided to answer.

"Lori Loud and that is my sister Leni," Lori said with a hint of anger in her voice. Upon hearing those names Jack thought back to his talk meanwhile Lori was confused at why Jack wasn't responding.

"Why did you want to know that?" Lori asked in the same tone as Jack used before.

"Give me a sec," Jack said as he walked away while pulling out his phone leaving Kate alone with the two.

"I'm really sorry for Jack's behavior but this is a serious matter," Kate said. Both Leni and Lori knew much well that this was a serious matter and didn't need anyone telling them.

Back at Jordan's house, the two kids were watching Spectacular Ace Savvy the animated series in Jordan's room while eating some snacks. They were both cuddled up next to each other covered by one blanket.

"This is so comfy," Jordan said while half asleep. She soon found her head placed on top of Lincoln's shoulder and she winched when she realized what she was doing. Jordan began to feel a bit embarrassed. Lincoln turned to her in confusion before realizing what happened.

A small chuckle escaped his mouth as he began talking. "It's okay Jordan. I don't mind." He said with a smile that killed Jordan's embarrassment instantly.

Jordan then came closer to him again before placing her head down on his shoulder cautiously. As her head leaned on his shoulder only one eye kept her awake while the other rested. Jordan had to admit that she was scared of accidentally falling asleep on Lincoln because she tended to snore.

"But it showed that Lincoln was more tired as he let out a small yawn and placed his head onto hers." Her cheeks glowed red, but she didn't move or try to hide it but instead, she relaxed hoping that this would last forever.

Then she and Lincoln both shot up when Jordan's phone which was on max volume started playing music to notify that someone was calling her. Both Jordan and Lincoln began recovering from the noise scare and she cursed muttered something angrily as she picked up her phone.

She saw the caller id of her dad and left the room to pick up and talk to private.

"Hey, dad. Whatever it is, it better be important s-" But Jordan got cut off by her dad.

"Look sorry for interrupting whatever was happening, but could you pass this to Lincoln?" Jack said on the other side leaving Jordan confused.

"What, why?" Jordan asked wondering what could be happening that involved Lincoln.

"His sisters are here."


	11. When Worlds Collide Pt3

Jordan stood in shock not knowing how to process the information told to her. She felt as if a knife had twisted in her stomach and her legs felt weak. Then she felt a defensive feeling take over as she regained her senses.

"Jordan?" Questioned Jack on the other side snapping Jordan out of her daze. She still felt weak and didn't know what to say.

"Yeah… I'll pass the phone to Lincoln." Jordan said. Her words felt dry and emotionless and with some hesitation, Jordan went back to her room with a blank stare that was locked on the white-haired boy.

As she entered, she caught the young boy's glance and her face was an indication that something was off. Lincoln opened his mouth to ask but stopped when Jordan stretched out her hand to give him her phone.

He reluctantly took it and put it up to his ear before hearing a familiar voice speak.

"Lincoln is that you?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, it's me. What's up?" Asked Lincoln suspiciously before hearing a drawn-out sigh on the other end.

"Lincoln, I don't know how else to explain it to you. But promise me that you won't hang up or panic." Jack said. Lincoln's head was turned for a spin as to why Jack thought that he would do that.

"Of course, why should I do any of that?" Asked Lincoln releasing a small chuckle to calm the tension but to no avail. The tension was slowly seeping through the empty noises of the phone and into Lincoln's mind where it rested.

"Lincoln your sisters are here… in New York." Jack explained. Those words felt like a betrayal to him, he wanted to get away and be far from them, but it seemed life had other plans.

"Lincoln you there?" Jack asked after a while fearing for the boy's reaction before hearing a voice clear up on the other end. Soon the emotions that his sisters caused began plaguing him again, he asked one question to free his mind.

"How?" His shaky voice was more than enough to show his reaction to all of this and then he looked at Jordan who had given him the phone with a hint of uncertainty.

She gave him a look of sorrow and pain but amongst all of that laid something else inside which Lincoln couldn't tell what it was. It was something that didn't show itself to him and kept to herself but as to what it was, Lincoln didn't know. Then noises from the phone caught his attention as his focus faded back into the conversation.

"I don't know but we know that they are all here. Kate is currently talking to two of them" Jack added with reluctance in his voice. He knew this was difficult news for the boy and it certainly was. Lincoln's emotions were a rollercoaster that wanted to shut down and wait this all out. But sadly, he couldn't do that, even if he didn't want to see his sisters a certain curiosity formed of who it was Kate was talking to and so he asked.

"Who?" The question was simple, and he expected to receive a simple answer.

"You spoke about them before. Lori and Leni if I remember right." Jack said. Upon hearing those names, a part of him calmed and felt a wave of relief. Out of the few sisters he could trust and still care for it happened to be two of them but on the other hand he knew that if two of them where here then his other 'sisters' weren't far behind.

"Do they know that I'm here?" Questioned Lincoln. He already knew what answer to expect by the long pause that Jack took after hearing his question. He prepared for the question mentally but even that wasn't enough.

"Yes, they do. I'm sorry Lincoln." Jack apologized blaming a small part on himself for Lincoln's sisters finding out. A sigh escaped Lincoln's mouth as stress and worry started to fill every part of his body and mind. Things didn't look too good for him even with the two sisters being innocent. Lincoln from then on knew that it was a ticking time bomb until he met all of his 'sisters' again, far too soon for his tastes.

"It's not your fault. At least they are ones who did nothing wrong." Lincoln said taking the blame off Jack as he figured he already has a lot on his hands.

"What do you want to do now?" Jack asked. Lincoln's mind slowly started sifting between two different options, his heart started to race rapidly. He looked at Jordan for help but found nothing but a blank stare waiting for him. He didn't know what to say or what to do, he needed someone to tell him. But with the only other person in the room being zoned out and unresponsive Lincoln put his faith in his mind and followed what it wanted.

"Could… you pass the phone to them?" Lincoln asked as he choked on his own words. He thought it would be different if it were sisters, he knew were innocent but something in his gut told him no. Out of the corner of his eye, he could swear that Jordan was giving him a look of disbelief.

"Are you sure Lincoln I mean -" But Lincoln cut him off before he could finish. He knew that this bravery wouldn't last forever and tried to get past the point of no return.

"Just do it," Lincoln said with his last bit of courage.

Lincoln then heard a scuffle on the other side before the mic was muted on the phone. A confusion grew on his face and he waited patiently until he heard the mic unmute. Yet again there was silence as Lincoln expected.

He waited patiently after realizing he didn't have the guts to start his first sentence. He was scared of saying anything and held his breath as he hoped the one on the other side would start.

"Lincoln?" A feminine voice asked. It was a voice he hadn't heard in a while that felt like a fresh breeze of air to him. He emptied his lungs and released the air he kept inside before saying his first word.

"H-hey Lori." Lincoln said while stuttering on the first part. A blush of embarrassment formed on his face and he didn't dare to say anything else.

"Lincoln, I can't believe it's you!" Lori said in relief on the other side. Her voice sounded rough and from the way she spoke, it was almost definitely that she was crying.

"I'm s-sorry Lincoln!" Cried Lori with a shaky voice. Her cries of apologies were heard by Lincoln who understood her pain and knew what kind of problems she must have gone thru.

"Lori don't cry it's… not your fault. You did nothing wrong; it was them." Lincoln said which calmed the nerves of his eldest sister but at the same time, it surprised her. She was glad that no blame was officially put on her by Lincoln but yet it shocked her that he referred to his sisters as 'them'. But she understood why as they did hurt him and why should he call them his sisters.

Needing to switch the conversation up Lori thought of some subjects to talk about to ease their way into a more smoother conversation.

"How is everything?" Lori asked before realizing that it could be misinterpreted by him. "I mean at their home." Clarified Lori quickly.

"Yeah… yeah, everything is fine." Lincoln answered awkwardly before preparing his question.

"Is it true?" Lincoln asked. "Are the others here." Lincoln asked already knowing the answer. But he needed to hear it from her to make sure by 100% that it was true.

"Yes, Lincoln. We all are here. Mom, dad, Leni, and all our other sisters." Lori said being careful as to not say any names that would set him off. Lincoln didn't know what to feel, knowing for certain that everyone he tried to stay away from was here looking for him made him feel nauseous before he gathered his senses together.

"How did you find out? And do they know that I'm… here." Lincoln asked referring to Jack and Kate's house. It felt like his world was crumbling again right before him as the day where almost all of his so-called 'sisters' betrayed him. He anxiously waited for Lori to answer wondering what gave his place away.

"We found your hoodie next to the train station and put two and two together." Lori explained. "But as for where you are here… they don't know." Lori said with Lincoln letting out a sigh of relief. Of course, it was something he thought wouldn't get noticed, a small mistake had cost him all of this and now he was paying for it. If only he had taken it maybe then he might have been able to live here peacefully far from his 'sisters'.

"At least they don't know I'm here." Lincoln responded simply. It dug a hole inside of him knowing that there was a thin line separating him from his old home and 'sisters'. A line that Lori could easily break apart.

"How's Leni." Asked Lincoln remembering that Leni was there with Lori. There was a pregnant pause between them before Lori responded in her same rough voice.

"Leni has taken it the hardest out of all." Lori said which made Lincoln feel terrible. A cloud of rain fogged his mind with regret and guilt of what he put Leni thru. There was no doubt in his mind that Leni was worried sick and wanted nothing more than to at least hear his voice.

Sensing her brothers' silence Lori understood her brother's thoughts and assured him. "But don't worry she's doing better than before." A bittersweet smile formed on Lincoln's lips as he listened to the sentence. He understood that it was far from normal to her but at least she was healing.

"That's good to hear." Lincoln said in a happier and calm down tone. He had gotten more comfortable talking to Lori and all of his worries eased away for now.

"We all miss you Lincoln." Lori said. She was unsure of how he would react but hoped for the best. When she said everyone, she meant everyone. Though it didn't forgive what they had done, but luckily, they definitely showed remorse and regret which is something Lori was glad to see.

"Lori they can miss me all they want but I'm not coming back." Lincoln said determined, setting his foot down announcing where he stood in this whole situation. He expected Lori to begin arguing with him or trying to convince him to come back but what she said next shocked him.

"*Sigh* I know you don't want to come home and I'm not forcing you. I'm just glad that you're somewhere safe." Lori said understandably. She knew that Lincoln wouldn't want to come home just because of some talk, in reality, all she cared about was that her brother was somewhere safe.

"You are a good sister. Never forget that Lori." Lincoln said which got Lori to smile on the other side while she wiped her tears away. The comment from her brother assured her that she was doing the right thing by letting Lincoln stay. As her thoughts were compiling, Leni stepped forward to her and whispered in her ear.

Lincoln also heard the small whisper on the other side but he couldn't make out what it said or from who it came from and before he could ask Lori started to speak.

"Hey Lincoln, Leni would like to speak with you. Is that okay with you?" Lori asked. Then there was another pause that worried Lori if he would talk to Leni. Maybe he was still reluctant to talk to other sisters than her but in reality, Lincoln's thoughts were saying something else.

His mind gave him a suggestion that wouldn't leave him. Lincoln was unsure if wanted to suggest it, but he thought back to better memories with Leni and Lori and put his faith in his trust with them.

"H-how about you come and visit me instead," Lincoln suggested with a hopeful tone. Nether Lori, Leni, Jack, or Kate excepted him to suggest that which Jack found interesting. Lori couldn't believe what she was hearing, and it felt like it was a dream to her.

"Are you serious?" Lori asked surprised. She didn't believe it but hoped with every part of her body that her brother would let her come close and help him through this. Lori understood that it was a difficult decision for him to make and that his trust for them was on the line.

"I mean if you want to?" Said an unsure Lincoln. He anxiously waited for an answer from his eldest sister with more nerves building up and boiling inside of him.

"No! I mean yes! Yes, we would like to see you Lincoln." Lori said in a haze. "If that's okay with you." Lori finished before catching her breath.

"Yeah I mean it's okay with me." He answered. Lincoln didn't know what this would mean inviting them over, but he knew that he couldn't hide from them forever.

With one last confirmation, a plan was made to meet up. Jack and Kate had agreed to drive the two sisters to him and said that it'll take it will take a while before they arrive since traffic was high. The call ended and Lincoln's mind began processing all the events that happened over the phone. He wanted to relax and mentally prepare himself for the upcoming event but from the look on Jordan that wasn't going to happen.

"What was that about!" Asked Jordan in complete shock over the conversation she heard. Jordan couldn't imagine why Lincoln would allow any of those devilish sisters to come over.

"Jordan, I know you don't see this as a great idea -" Lincoln tried to explain but Jordan cut him off.

"Yeah, of course, it's a bad idea! You said you wanted nothing to do with them and now you're giving them a warm welcome?" Jordan said failing to see any sense in Lincoln's reasoning.

"Jordan they are the last people of my family who I trust. And I think I really hurt Leni when I left." Lincoln said. Jordan then began to understand the guilt that Lincoln must have been feeling but she still had her problems with his plan.

"Well, I still think you shouldn't have invited them like that." Jordan said which caused Lincoln to wonder why.

"Why? They didn't do anything." He argued calmly trying to understand her point of view. It was then Jordan realized that these weren't the sisters who hurt him and left him on his own. She blushed red as blood in embarrassment leaving Lincoln confused.

"You alright Jordan?" Lincoln asked worryingly. At this point, Jordan was regretting thinking that Lincoln was stupid to invite his sisters which she thought were bad.

"I'm an idiot," Jordan admitted which surprised Lincoln. "I thought these were the other sisters. You know… the bad ones." Jordan said while putting her palms up to her face covering herself.

A small chuckle escapes Lincoln's mouth as he pulled away the two palms covering her face and hugged her. "Yeah, I should have probably told you that from the beginning." Lincoln said before releasing the hug.

"But hey at least I know you're looking out for me," Lincoln said sweetly which made Jordan's embarrassment wash away.

"Of course, I'm looking out for you. You are my friend after all…" Jordan said. Her eyes were gazing at the boy as they had their little sweet moment and she really wanted to show how thankful she was for his company. What usually turns out for her as a normal vacation with no one else, but her parents become much more amazing when she encountered Lincoln. They had watched movies, gone to the mall, played video games, and now had special moments that meant much to both of them.

She acknowledged her feelings for the boy and knew what they meant but she asked herself. 'Was it really a great time now?' And the answer was sadly no, with Lincoln recovering from the abuse he had received and two of his sisters coming to visit, Jordan thought that she would wait until this all blew over until she would start to get real with the boy she loved.

"And you're my friend Jordan," Lincoln said with a blush only he knew about. Then an odor hit his nose like a falling anvil, he leaned in and smelled himself before winching in shock.

"Geez, I smell like a dead fish!" Lincoln said in disgust as Jordan also began to smell it.

"Well, you haven't exactly showered ever since you came here," Jordan explained which was then Lincoln had realized he quiet desperately needed a shower.

"Where's the shower?" Wondered Lincoln.

After taking a shower and throwing his clothes in a washing machine Lincoln got to relax in a warm shower. To say he was nervous about meeting his sisters was an understatement. It was kind of scary to him that no matter how much he tried to run his part would chase him down. Questions of what he would say or talk about flooded his mind the rest of the shower and soon Lincoln was clean fresh with fresh clothes. He had to admit the washing machine worked faster than he expected.

After leaving the bathroom all dressed up Lincoln peeked into Jordan's room in hopes of seeing her but noticed she wasn't there. Then a thick smell of food pierced his nose, it came from the kitchen, and Lincoln followed the smell all the way downstairs where he saw Jordan in the kitchen with an apron.

"Hey, Jordan!" Lincoln said smiling at the light-haired brunet. Upon hearing the familiar voice Jordan turned to him and smiled at him back before checking the oven.

"Yeah sorry I was hoping to finish this before you got out," Jordan admitted while continuing to check on the oven. About 18 muffins were baking inside all being divided into 4 colors of taste by the looks of it. Then Lincoln noticed a pan above the oven that had obviously been used.

Turns out Jordan also made Lunch and she had already prepared him and her a plate of food. They both sat down and started eating with Jordan throwing an eye at Lincoln occasionally.

"Is it good? I kind of just followed what I saw mom do last time she made this." Jordan said. Lincoln finished his bite and swallowed it finding it really good and savory.

"It's amazing really good." Responded Lincoln as he took another bite. The conversation went dead for a while from the on. They both looked down at their food and stayed quiet until Jordan remembered what to say.

"Mom called while you were in the shower. Said they'll be home in about 5 minutes." Jordan said before going quiet again.

Almost all of her dinner Jordan would stay quiet. And why would she talk, most of the time her parents were at work and she had to spend countless dinners alone. Of course, not all dinners or moments she was parentless, there were sometimes where they would come home early but those were far and few, but they did bring her favorite moments. It was quite ironic because she was the most popular girl in school but at home, she was a loner. The only time she would see them normally would be right before bedtime where they would kiss her forehead and say goodnight to her.

But that was what made these vacations special to her, she had the chance to be with her parents and be with them more often. Sure, they would still leave her to go on dates with each other, but it was a normal couple thing and she was used to it. But now she wasn't alone, she had Lincoln. The boy she encountered by random and by luck who turned out to have the same interest as her and likes. In other words, Jordan didn't feel the same feeling of being alone anymore instead it was replaced by Lincoln.

"Hey, Jordan." Lincoln said who was snapping his finger next to her ear to snap her out of the thoughts. She shook her head and looked around gaining her senses again before smiling at him.

"Yeah?" She wondered. Jordan noticed her plate was missing along with Lincoln's until she saw it in the dishwasher.

"You kind of zoned out for a bit so I figured I should just put the plate in for you." Lincoln said as he finished his glass of water.

Then suddenly unexpectedly both of them heard a knock at the front door. Both of them froze and looked at the door not knowing what to do next. After a couple of seconds, a key could be heard entering the door and being twisted until an audible click could be heard. Then the handle started to turn which allowed the door to be opened. Lincoln took a deep breath gathering his courage and waited patiently for it to open.

* * *

_***Checks when the last chapter was posted***_** Hey guys TheCoffee here and yeah, sorry this chapter took so long time to make and I really don't have any excuses except for that I was lazy. But I did take a longer time to write this chapter and figured that It turned out okay. If you can't tell I took a bit more descriptive way of writing this chapter which gave it a better tone in my opinion. Hopefully, the next chapter will not take as long to make, and be sure to tell me if this writing style makes the story better. Thanks for reading chapter 11 and I'll see you in chapter 12!**

**MemeMachine69: Thanks for your kind review!**

**Engineer1869: Thanks! I'll be sure to keep up the good work!**


	12. Piece of Home

Lincoln felt worried as he saw the doorknob turn. A pit formed in his stomach from the worry and Lincoln took a large breath while waiting for the door to reveal what's behind. His body felt stiff almost as if it didn't want to move nor close its eyes. He felt a hand clasp around his own, the hand belonged to Jordan who gave him a look of comfort to settle his worries.

Then it happened, the door started to open with an audible creak coming from it. The first people Lincoln saw was Jack and Kate who had unsure expressions on their face, but just behind them, Lincoln could make out two figures. As Jack and Kate walked inside the view of the figures behind became much more clear showing Lincoln what he excepted.

Lori and Leni, as the two sisters walked in, they instantly laid their eyes on the white-haired boy. Then just as they took their first step in both Lori and Leni stopped while still looking at Lincoln. Tension filled the air between them as no one knew what to say.

Then Leni stepped forward and moved to Lincoln with her head down. As she got close Leni bowed down to his height and hugged him with all the strength she could. Lincoln could hear whimpers and saw tears fall down her cheek as Leni hugged tighter. Lincoln let go of Jordan's hand and used that free hand to slowly brush the hair of his sisters.

"I-I'm sorry!" Leni exclaimed. Its broke Lincoln's heart to hear his sister whimper and cry like that, Lincoln wasn't used to hearing his sister at such a bad state. It felt like an icicle had stabbed him in his heart leaving it cold.

"It's okay- it's okay Leni." Lincoln whispered to her.

"N-no, i-it's not!" Leni said, crying on his shoulder. He didn't know what to do or what to say, Lincoln looked at Jack who was watching the entire event play out, then Lincoln gave a glance to Lori who stood there unsure of what to do.

"I-I-I…" Lori couldn't formulate a sentence, Lori felt scared that her words would sound weak or meaningless to the boy who was her brother.

Lincoln opened his arm out for her with a small tearful smile of his own letting Lori get the courage to come closer. Lori drew herself closer and bowed down to his level before leaping into a hug. It was really then Lori could let all of the tears out along with the pain and worry. She had found her brother, he was safe, and he was happy to see them.

"I can't b-believe it's you Lincoln." Lori wailed. Lori and Leni both hugged Lincoln tight not letting him go. Lincoln smiled as he was given affection by them and even Jordan let out a small smile. It was a truly great moment as the two sisters could pour all of their emotions out and lift the heavy weight off their shoulders.

* * *

While the heartfelt moments were exchanged Kate had motioned for her daughter to leave the three alone. Kate, Jack, and Jordan all left to the living room so that Lincoln could have his joy in peace. Both of the parents both felt a joy from seeing the three siblings make up. But Jack did notice something about Jordan's expression which was off.

"You alright sweetie?" Asked Jack.

Jordan looked at her dad before giving him a sweet smile "Yeah, I'm fine."

* * *

Minutes passed as the hug continued, no words needed to be said. Just the comfort and the feeling of his life before was enough for him.

Soon enough the stifled cries and whimpering twitches started fading as the emotions finally had their ways. It was Lori first who had stopped crying and she looked at him in joy. "Lincoln thank god you're okay. We were worried sick!" Lori said in relief while wiping away the tears.

Lincoln continued to stroke Leni's hair and gazed at Lori. "Thank Jordan for that. I owe everything to her; without Jordan, I would be freezing outside probably." Lincoln admitted.

"But now I'm here. Safe and sound." Lincoln said happily as he wiped away some leftover tears from his face.

Then in between the air and Lori's voice, Lincoln could hear Leni repeating one sentence to him silently. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry -" The sorry's continued silently before Lincoln decided to do something.

Lincoln slowly lifted Leni's face upwards showing that indeed some tears were coming down.

"I'm sorry Lincoln! I shouldn't have been so dumb!" Leni exclaimed as she lightly pounded her head on Lincoln's shoulder.

To stop Leni from hurting herself more Lincoln grabbed Leni's face and looked at her. "Leni whatever you blame yourself for I beg you to know that none of this is your fault."

A couple of sniffles and ragged breaths were made as Leni took the information in. "But it's my fault t-that they hurt you." Leni said in a sorrowful tone while looking away from Lincoln.

"Leni none of use couldn't have known that this would've happened." Lincoln said to Leni. "Not even I expected it to go that far." Lincoln added. It was true, the night it all went down Lincoln only thought that he would receive a light punch from Lynn or something along those lines. But when he saw their eyes Lincoln saw that they had hatred in them and anger.

"So Leni this isn't your fault, it's their fault and only theirs." Summarized Lincoln, the word 'their' being filled with slight anger.

It was only then when Leni started to calm down for real. She let out a sigh and slowly nodded in agreeance to Lincoln's statement and Lori shifted her position to hug her younger sister in support.

"Thanks Linky." Leni said with a slightly visible smile. She wiped her eyes and nose clean and leaned to her sister for support.

Seeing this Lincoln felt a warmth spread through his body as he saw how compassionate they were for finding him. It felt like Lincoln had all the pieces of his old life that he wanted, but there was also a problem that came with it and the problem was that the unwanted pieces were close by, far beyond his comfort.

Lincoln's sudden mood change alerted Lori and Leni to that something was wrong, and their faces became concerned. "Is everything okay?" Lori asked.

"Yeah it's just that I can't stop thinking that the others are here." Lincoln responded uneasily. Both of the sisters knew what he meant and gave him a heartfelt smile.

"Don't worry Lincoln we won't let them get to you. I promise." Leni said, both of them looked at each other and nodded in agreeance.

"Thank you!" Lincoln said, hugging them tightly with gratitude before a knock behind the could be heard.

Behind them stood Kate. "Sorry to interrupt you sweet moment together but would you like something to eat?" Kate asked the two sisters.

The two turned to Lincoln for an answer eagerly but he shrugged his shoulders. "I've already had dinner with Jordan but if you two are hungry then we can talk at the table."

Both Leni and Lori's stomach growled audibly when it thought about food. Their whole searching had gotten them really hungry and the hadn't had much to eat these past few days due to the panic in the family. But now they could rest and eat properly.

The two sisters and their brother made their way to the kitchen where Jack and Jordan were already waiting for their food and the sound of something cooking on the saucepan could be heard. The familiar smell filled their noses as they recognized it as chicken soup.

They were all given bowls and spoons by Kate who was finishing the soup. Everyone started to take their seats, Lincoln sat down next to Jordan, and Lori let Leni take the last seat next to Lincoln. As soon as everything was done, and the soup was poured almost all began to dig in.

"So Jordan what did you two get up to while we were away." Asked Jack breaking the silence.

Jordan coughed to clear her throat before responding. "Not much, we watched some tv and ate some snacks we had left over."

"But we never finished watching the episode." Lincoln remembered and told Jordan.

"Oh yeah, we should finish watching it later." Jordan said to him.

Both Lincoln and Jordan started to exchange small talk over dinner with Jack or Kate joining in sometimes and Lori adding something occasionally but only when Lincoln spoke. Then only one who hadn't said anything was Leni who looked down at her bowl.

Jordan then caught the attention of Lincoln, she leaned in and whispered something to him "You should talk to Leni. She's just playing around with her food the entire time." Jordan noticed quietly.

Lincoln turned to Leni and saw that she was twirling around the soup with her spoon with a full mind. But Leni came out of her thoughts when she saw Lincoln staring to which he flashed her a warm smile. After the smile, Leni responded with her own and started to eat the food.

He then glanced over to Lori who was almost done with her food. Lincoln noticed how his eldest sister seemed distracted by something else in her mind, he planned on asking her about it later.

A couple of minutes passed of silence and everyone was on their finishing spoonful. Kate and Jack were amongst the first ones to finish and Lori finished hers right after. Leni was the only one who hadn't finished, she had taken her time with every bite as thoughts clouded her mind.

Seeing this Kate decided to come over to Leni. "Are you not hungry?" Kate asked sweetly to which Leni shook her said slowly. "Okay but if you feel hungry then don't be afraid to ask for more." Kate said, taking the bowl away from Leni to clean it.

"Well since we all are finished why don't you show us around the house Lincoln." Lori said trying to get her brother and sister somewhere private to talk.

"Actually, Lori I was wanting to have a small chat with you." Jack said. Both Leni and Lincoln felt uneasy of Jack talking with just Lori, 'probably about something private.' Lincoln thought to himself. He was about to ask if he could join but Lori had already made her mind.

Lori looked in the direction of Jack before speaking "Okay." Lori nodded in agreement before turning to Lincoln and Leni. "Just go without me guys, I'll be fine." Confirmed Lori.

Lincoln nodded. "Alright, come on Leni." Lincoln said to which Leni obeyed and stood up. As Lincoln was about to leave the kitchen Lincoln noticed Jordan not following along.

"Hey, you coming?" Lincoln asked to which Jordan smiled at him. "No, I'm already familiar with this house and this is more a personal matter to you." Jordan explained.

Lincoln beamed her a smile back. "Alright see you after I've given the tour." Lincoln waved at her. "Bye." Lincoln and Jordan both said in unison as Lincoln left the kitchen with Leni.

As they both left, Lincoln started walking around the familiar places that he had spent the last days at showing them off to Leni.

"This is the living room, the stairs, and the downstairs guest bedrooms where I've would be sleeping if I hadn't fallen asleep on their couch so many times." Lincoln said reminiscing the times. He looked at Leni for some sort of response but got nothing, that worried him a bit.

Their tour continued and Lincoln showed of every place he knew until he didn't know more. "Here are the bathrooms." Lincoln said while pointing at the end of a corridor upstairs. "That's Jordan's room." Lincoln finished. Lincoln looked at Leni once more for some sort of a reaction but only to be met with nothing. Sensing that this was an issue Lincoln would have to talk out, Lincoln attempted to walk down to the living room to talk privately with Leni only to be met with Jack and Lori already having a talk there.

With the living room downstairs taken Lincoln led his sister to one of the guestrooms which she was confused by.

"Haven't we been here before?" Leni asked in a low tone.

"We have, but something is wrong with you. I can see it or rather hear it." Lincoln explained. Leni visibly took a long sigh before sitting down on a bed and patting the place next to her. "What's wrong?" Lincoln asked.

He sat down beside her. "It's going to sound stupid." Leni admitted which Lincoln did not believe.

"Well if it's bothering you then it's not stupid." Lincoln said. "So please tell me what's wrong." Lincoln pleaded to Leni.

Leni sighed defeated before looking down on the ground and rubbing her arm. "I don't know. I'm scared, happy, and anxious about you." Leni said.

"I'm scared that I will never forgive myself for what I did, I'm happy to know that you're alive, but I'm anxious that you will leave us." Leni said.

"Leave you?" Questioned Lincoln to which Leni quickly tensed on about.

"Forget it. It was dumb anyways." Leni said discrediting it.

"No no no." Lincoln repeated to her. "It's not dumb, I just want to hear you out. Please tell me what you mean." Lincoln begged.

"We hurt you Lincoln, all of us that day did. Maybe I didn't mean to, but I certainly had a part to play in this. I just feel like we don't deserve to have you."

"I mean look at yourself, I can still see the bruises you got." Lincoln looked at his right arm to still see a bruised spot on his arm. "Lincoln you left us to find a better life and this is it. You are with people who care about you and wouldn't want to do anything against you." Leni said referring to Jack, Kate, and Jordan.

"I'm anxious, scared, and happy about what this means." Leni said while having a small panic attack. "I don't want to lose you again." Leni cried out.

Lincoln responded by hugging Leni again. "Leni you will never lose me." Lincoln whispered to her while soothing her. "And look I don't know what will happen to me. I don't know if I'll return back 'home' or I'll stay here for however long I can, but I promise you with all my heart that you will forever be my sister." Lincoln said, tearing up.

* * *

As the two had their emotional moment Jordan could be found on the other side of the door listening in on their conversation. She smiled at the heartfelt words from Lincoln but that smile soon faded when a thought placed itself in her head.

'Lincoln going back home.' The thought sent chill down Jordan's spine as she couldn't even imagine the boy returning there happy as he was before. But not only that, the thought that Lincoln won't stay with them forever made an empty feeling in her chest grow larger. What would happen then? What would happen to **them**?

Jordan leaned away from the door and let out a tired sigh. She looked around for something interesting to do and take her mind of this, but everything suddenly felt gray and dull to her. Finding no use of being here Jordan decided that it would be best to go to her room.

As she went for the stairs a familiar voice called her out. "Hey sweetie where are you going?" Kate asked.

"To my room, been feeling a bit drained so I'll catch up on some rest." Jordan said with a small smile.

"Are you sure, Lincoln's sister and Jack just finished speaking. You could wait on the couch for Lincoln to finish his tour with Leni." Kate said.

Jordan gave it some thought before coming to her decision. "I'll catch up with him tomorrow. Plus, he deserves some time with his sisters."

Jordan left for upstairs and into her room where she disappeared.

* * *

**Well, here we are at the end of chapter 12. Sorry for taking a long time to make this chapter but I hit a writing block while working on this and had a hard time making this reunion emotional, I hope it did a great job on it. As always thank you for reading this chapter and I'll see you next chapter!**

**echo009: Thanks! Well, here it is.**

**Crisis Nova: Yes she was, thanks for pointing out the mistake :D**


	13. Literal Talk

Lincoln had just left the guest room with Leni after having a heart to heart talk with her. Upon their exit Lincoln was met with one last hug from Leni as thanks for everything.

"Come on Leni let's see if Lori is done talking." Lincoln said to her. He motioned her to follow which she did, and they walked to the living room where Lori and Jack had talked previously. Upon further inspection, Lincoln noticed that there was no one there and assumed that they had finished talking.

"Guess they finished talking." Leni guessed, Lincoln nodded. He motioned Leni to sit down which she did, Lincoln took the remote and turned on the tv in front of her.

"Yeah, I'll go and see where she is." Lincoln said. He was curious as to what the two had talked about, Lincoln knew it was something to do with him but as to what it was could be anyone's guess.

"I can come with." Leni suggested, she started standing up but stopped when Lincoln spoke.

"Leni you don't have to." Lincoln said. Almost the whole time they were here Leni had not stopped following him and Lincoln thought that it would be good for her to have some time off for her and relax.

"It won't take that long." Lincoln stated, handing the remote to Leni. She relaxed on the couch and started switching channels while Lincoln let to find Lori.

Lincoln started by looking everywhere downstairs and when that showed no results he started to look upstairs. As he was looking at every room Lincoln saw Jack walking in the hall while holding a cup of coffee.

Lincoln approached him "Hey Jack have you seen Lori. I can't seem to find her." Lincoln said with a twinge of worry. To Lincoln's surprise Jack smiled at him before opening a door next to him. The room was one that he only visited once which was when he was showing Leni around the house. Jack then proceeded to point at a glass door inside the room which led outside to a balcony.

"Lori needed some air after our talk." Jack explained which left Lincoln confused about what they could have talked about.

"What did you talk about?" Questioned Lincoln

"You'll have to ask her about that." Jack answered. With that Jack left for downstairs which left Lincoln with one choice.

In need of answers Lincoln walked to where Jack pointed at and opened the glass door which alerted Lori sitting on a chair next to the door, she was holding a coffee cup also and watched out on New York deep in thought with herself.

Lori turned to Lincoln and greeted him "Hey Lincoln."

"Hey -" Lincoln said, sitting down beside her. "…so what did you two talk about?" Asked Lincoln getting straight to the point.

Lori leaned back on her chair while taking another sip of her coffee. "About my life and such." Answered Lori.

"Well how is life for you? I haven't talked to you ever since you moved out… well except today." Lincoln asked her. He was curious about his oldest sisters' life ever since she had departed. He remembered the tearful goodbye he gave her. She had been ready with her stuff packed and Bobby was waiting outside in his car for her. And as she departed life had to go on as normal for everyone.

"Well me and Bobby live in Great Lake as you know, we have a big apartment there for a surprisingly low price. Bobby works at the bodega as a side job, it's been quite successful." Lori said. Thanks to some smart business strategies made by Bobby customers were coming in left and right and money soon became not a problem for them.

Lincoln then let out a chuckle as he remembered something "Does he still get stuck in the freezer?". Lori let out a smile and a chuckle of her own before nodding.

"Yes, he still does, last time it happened was right before our date. We lost our booked seats, but he tried his hardest to make up for it." Lori reminisced with a smile on her face.

"How about you? What's new in the life of Lori?" Lincoln asked.

"Nothing really, just a ton of homework and class." Lori answered which left Lincoln curios.

"Wait! You still have homework to do back in Great Lake?" Lincoln asked. A small twinge of guilt formed when he realized that he had averted Lori from her studies and school.

Lincoln suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder "I know what you are thinking. Lincoln you are far more important to me than any of my schoolwork. So, don't think to yourself that you're in the way." Lori said to him.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Lincoln asked.

"You're my little brother Lincoln, it's my job as your sister to know this." Lori said to him. The words complimented Lincoln and put a smile on his face that beamed bright, but the smile faded a bit when a question formed in his mind.

"Who told you about me?" Lincoln wondered. He had a few suspicions on who it could've been, but his mind was too clouded for him to think straight.

Lori took another sip of her coffee before sighing "Leni had called me a couple of days ago. At first I didn't understand what she was saying but from her voice it sounded serious." Lori began with Lincoln listening in. "Eventually I picked up on what she was saying and went to Royal Woods." Lori finished reminiscing the shock she felt when Leni's words became comprehensible.

"Poor Leni, I can't imagine what I put her thru." Lincoln said with a guilty feeling sinking into his chest.

"Leni was broken up when you left." Lori confirmed. "But you did what you had to Lincoln. I would have done the same in your situation, maybe even called the cops." Lori said. Lincoln felt relieved that there were no hard feelings for what he did and continued their talk.

"How are the others?" Lincoln asked as he looked at Lori for an answer.

"Mom and dad are disappointed…" Lori began before being cut off by a shocked Lincoln and made him speak out.

"In me?!" Lincoln said eyes widened with Lori waving no with her hand. "Not in you, but in themselves for not putting an end to all of this." Lori finished while Lincoln shut his mouth sheepishly for assuming wrong.

Lincoln gathered his courage for another question and asked, "What about L… the others?"

His tongue got stuck midway in the sentence when he tried to pronounce her name, it felt like a dagger to his heart imagining the name but saying it was a different kind of a pain to him.

"Are you okay?" Asked Lori concerned. "Yeah I'm good. But still, how are the others reacting?" Wondered Lincoln, he didn't know what to expect as an answer but waited patiently for Lori to gather her words.

"They all hate themselves for what they did." Lori started but paused. "But they deserve it." Lori finished with one deep sigh.

"They do." Lincoln agreed. This didn't shock Lori nor surprise her, she knew the anger and fear he carried for them.

Then came the question. The real reason why Jack talked to her. "You know that you can't hide from them forever." Lori said quietly but Lincoln picked up on it and sighed.

"I… know. I don't want to, but I will have to eventually." Lincoln said with a hint of fear.

"Are you scared?"

"I am, I don't think I could handle seeing them." Lincoln admitted. Lincoln knew that a reunion would happen one day, it scared him that the ones who caused him pain would meet his eyes again.

Lori saw the thoughtful boy tens up as he went deeper into thought. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry me and Leni are on your side. Always." She said comfortingly.

"Thanks, Lori, for everything." Lincoln said as he went in for a hug with Lori stroking his hair.

"Anything for you." Lori said as he released the hug slowly.

"Now come on, let's get inside. My coffee is starting to get cold." Lori said and both of them smiled at each other before they left for downstairs. When they reached the living room the two were greeted with Leni and Kate watching something on the tv, what surprised both Lincoln and Lori were that Leni had a small smile on her face as she watched the tv.

"Hey, what are you watching?" Asked Lincoln as he glanced at the tv.

"Fashion fever." Kate answered while still indulged with Leni on what the screen was showing. From what it looked like the show was about who could make the best set of clothes in a certain time period. Pretty much like master chef but with clothes.

* * *

_Flashback_

Lincoln had just left to find Lori and Kate were finishing up some leftover dishes. As she left the kitchen Kate got a great view of the living room where she saw Leni laying on the couch looking bored and frankly a bit sad. Feeling bad for Leni, Kate went up to her.

"Hey Leni, how are you." Kate simply asked.

"I'm okay…" Leni whispered silently.

"Tell me Leni what do you like to do?" Asked Kate nicely.

There was a moment of silence before she answered, "I like designing clothes and them making them."

Kate perked up from the sudden news.

"Do you watch fashion fever?" Kate asked as Leni slowly sat up on the couch.

"Well yeah when the tv is free at home." Leni explained whilst surprised that Kate knew that she watched fashion fever.

"Great news Leni. The tv is free and I got all the seasons saved." Kate answered proudly as Leni smiled a bit.

"Would you like to watch it?" Asked Kate.

"Yes." Leni said with a more cheerful tone than before.

And from then on, the two watched the tv until they heard Lincoln and Lori come downstairs.

_Flashback end_

* * *

Lincoln and Lori both decided to sit down and watch the show along with Leni and Kate. Since the two other siblings didn't know anything about fashion trends or fashion at all but still stayed to see Leni being happy like before.

But after an hour of watching Lincoln and Lori got more indulged in the show, not because they suddenly understood everything but more from the mystery of the challenges the contestants were given. Then as the show continued Lori's phone started to vibrate indicating a message.

Thinking it was Bobby wishing her well she answered the phone without watching the caller id.

"Hello honey how is it going with the searching? Have you found anything?" Asked a feminine voice on the other side. Lori instantly shot up from the couch as she recognized the voice as Rita. Lori motioned for Kate to shut off the tv which she did. Lori put her phone on speaker and started the conversation.

"No mom, I'm starting to worry that we won't find him." Lori lied while Lincoln listened in fear. His breathing got heavier but calmed when Leni hugged him from the side.

"Don't lose hope honey. But it's starting to get dark, we should meet at the hotel. Is that okay with you?" Rita asked as Lori sighed in defeat. There was no way she and Leni could stay here with Lincoln without causing suspicion so with a heavy heart she agreed.

"Okay mom I'll be there soon." Lori said before ending the call. She glanced at Leni who had a look of sorrow on her face as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Could I stay?" Asked Leni, it hurt to see Leni so sad again, but Lori knew that staying wasn't an option.

"Leni they will get suspicious if we don't come home." Lori explained.

"Could we come back here tomorrow." Wondered Leni as tears started to form, a voice then called out.

"You two are always welcomed back." Kate said. Lori gave Kate a slight smile before looking back at Leni.

"You see Leni, we can come back tomorrow." Lori said. Leni slowly let go of Lincoln and stood up before wiping some of the tears away.

They all made their way to the front door where Leni and Lori where they both were ready to leave. It felt like a sting to the heart for the white-haired boy to see them go but the hope of them coming back tomorrow kept him strong as they said their goodbyes. Kate stood with her jacket already on ready to drive the two sisters close by the hotel as instructed by Lori so nobody could see them arrive.

"Lincoln don't worry we'll be back tomorrow." Lori said as she and Leni bowed down to his level.

"You promise?" Lincoln asked. Leni and Lori nodded before one final hug was given out to him by them. The only lasted a minute but he wished it would've been an eternity. But alas the hug was let go and both Leni and Lori departed with Kate.

After a while the sound of an engine starting up notified Lincoln that they would soon leave and just then the sound of a car driving farther and farther away could be heard.

Lincoln sighed as he closed the door and went through the house alone.

'I haven't seen Jordan I a long time.' Lincoln remembered. After their last conversation in the kitchen Jordan had disappeared, it worried Lincoln and his gut told him that something was wrong. Thinking of where she could be Lincoln decided to check her room but before he could he heard a creak coming from a door being opened.

When the door had opened it reveals Jack looking a bit panicked about something as he walked around the house looking for something.

"Hey Jack, what's wrong?" Lincoln wondered. Lincoln had never seen Jack looking so worried and panicked about something.

"Where are your two sisters?" Asked Jack obviously searching for them.

"They just left with Kate. Why are you asking?" Wondered a slightly panicked Lincoln.

"My old pal called me up again. He said that the police launched a full-on investigation about the rumors of your disappearance." Jack said which made Lincoln's eyes go wide with shock.

"W…wait what does that mean?" Lincoln asked now panicked himself.

"It means that the police are searching for you and your family. And when they do find them, which they will. There will be a trial held against them." Jack explained as Lincoln's mind processed the information.

"What about Leni and Lori?" Lincoln asked hastily in panic. He didn't want them to face consequences for something they didn't do.

"Kate could probably get them both off the hook with the help of you." Jack said which calmed Lincoln down, but a question still remained.

"And what about the others?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm unsure what will happen to your parents but as for your sisters… they could be taken away from your parents and be placed in a foster home." Jack said as he tried to call Kate.

"…and me?" Lincoln asked. Jack froze as the question came forth and closed his phone before answering.

"If the Louds are proven guilty to some degree then there is a chance that you will also be placed in a foster home." Jack said with a heavy heart. Lincoln's blood ran cold as he imagined the situation, all of this was to heavy for him and Lincoln fell onto the couch with his mind started spinning nauseously.

* * *

**And here we are again, at the end of another chapter. Lincoln has said goodbye to Lori and Leni but with the hopes of seeing them again, the police have started a full investigation of Lincoln's disappearance and it seems like a storm is brewing over the horizon. **

**Thanks for reading and see you next chapter! **


	14. I Can't Be Without You

**Hi guys, this is Ink-Dub, here to beta this story from this point forward. Now your reading experience will be much more pleasant. No thank you's are necessary. ;)**

* * *

Days had passed since Jack informed Lincoln of the police and they had been stressful for the young kid to say the least. That constant unknowing terror was growing closer; sometimes kept him from falling asleep. Of course, he wasn't alone on this, Lincoln had Leni and Lori visiting him every time they could to comfort him but strangely, no Jordan.

Jordan was a whole new case for him. He was aware that something was wrong with her, but he couldn't get up the courage to talk with her. The only times they interacted were at the kitchen during dinner and the occasional bump into each other on the way to the bathroom. But it was but a simple 'hey' or 'goodnight'; he had never seen Jordan so distant, almost like she was a ghost living in the house.

Jack also seemed to notice this and urged Lincoln to speak with her, and that was the plan today. Lincoln's fear for the future wouldn't deter him now, with a free day that Lori and Leni weren't a part of as to not create suspicion from his 'family'.

The white-haired kid was in the guest room of the house and putting on his clothes after just waking up. Dawning his regular clothes that were newly washed thanks to Kate; although he insisted that they didn't need to be cleaned, Kate got her ways eventually and god, Lincoln was happy for that. Wearing the same clothes for days on end didn't help his odor at all but that won't be a problem anymore, luckily.

Upon stretching his joints until getting an audible pop, Lincoln is just a bit more prepared for the day as he left the room for the bathroom. While walking to the upstairs bathroom to see if he could catch Jordan, Lincoln noticed that her room door was already wide open and the bathroom was empty.

"Guess she's already eating breakfast." Lincoln said to himself before entering the bathroom.

Lincoln brushed his teeth with an unused toothbrush that the family had bought when they were out. After that Lincoln cleaned his face and looked in the ethereal mirror to see his reflection, a satisfied look appeared on his face as he noticed the wounds inflicted on him had started to heal.

His mind flashed back to the night which it all happened, after they were done with him, everyone left him in his room to rot. Rot like some animal who couldn't survive in its food chain, but he wasn't an animal. He was a person, someone who could think for himself and make choices. That's why he is here; because of a choice he decided on, it sent his life down this path that might not be the best, but the one he wanted.

And that was why he wanted to help Jordan, for all she did for him. Jordan had found him at his weakest state and slowly helped him get back on his feet; now it was his turn to help her with whatever she was going thru.

Lincoln left the bathroom and headed downstairs to where he could look into the kitchen to see her. The light brown hair tied together into a braid leaning down on her shoulder, she gave him a quick gaze before looking down at her cereal she was playing with.

With no noise between them, Lincoln didn't know how to get his words out and ask if she was okay. Lincoln sighed in defeat and decided to try again, but this time with a full stomach as he reached for the milk in the fridge and pulled it out. Mixing together cereal and milk made a delicious combination that he placed down next to Jordan as he took a seat right by her.

"Good morning." She murmured to him while still looking down.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Lincoln asked amused that Jordan had spoken to him.

"No, you?" Jordan had given him a simple answer that set his mind down a road of confusion. What did she mean by 'no'? Was it something so bad that it kept her from sleeping well? But nevertheless, Lincoln had a question to answer.

"Sadly, no." Lincoln said, taking a spoonful and stuffing it into his mouth.

"Is it because of what dad told you?" Jordan wondered.

Lincoln nodded to confirm her suspicions. Jordan's eyes had all this time been pointing down with no showing signs of stopping it. Lincoln sighed from the reminder that the law was close behind, but just this once, he threw it behind him to focus on the girl in front of him.

"So why have you been sleeping bad?" Asked Lincoln. Jordan twitched from the question, almost seeming surprised that he asked. She calmed down and collected herself before answering.

"Don't know…" Jordan lied. She did know but didn't feel great talking about it. She felt as if she opened her problems up to him that Lincoln would get overwhelmed with everything going on. Jordan knew that this was a tough time for him and keeping herself out of this would make the path easier for Lincoln.

Lincoln looked at Jordan for any signs of deception but couldn't notice any; but just because none were shown doesn't mean that Lincoln didn't pick up on any verbal signs. Just by the tone Jordan was speaking in, Lincoln had all he needed to know that this was a well created lie.

"Jordan please, I know something is bothering you." Lincoln said straight forward. He had pushed out those words with all the stretch he could've garnered, and a sudden silence stretched thin between them.

"I'm fine…" Jordan said deprived as she picked up her bowl and went to the sink to clean it.

"Well, you're obviously not. I've barely seen you these past few days." Lincoln stated with slight anger due to her insisting everything was fine. Jordan gave him a quick sorrowful glance before returning to washing the bowl.

"…"

Jordan had opened her mouth to mutter something to him but closed it right before the words could come out in the open. She finished cleaning her bowl and was about to head to her room before she heard Lincoln's voice address her.

"Can we at least watch some tv or something?" Lincoln requested, hoping that it would get thru to Jordan.

She waved her head slightly towards him "Sure, I'd like that." Jordan said with a slight smile.

Lincoln responded with a smile of his own before quickly throwing all of the cereal into his mouth, trying not to make Jordan wait. He gave the bowl a quick clean and made his way next to Jordan who was the first one to start walking towards the living room. It was still dark outside as the dark blue sky gave a small amount of light to the living room thru the windows. It was a perfect setting to watch a movie and relax.

The two of them plopped down on the couch comfortably. Jordan grabbed the remote next to her and started browsing the channels for anything both could watch.

As she stood there flipping the channels, she thought back to when she had found Lincoln out in the park all on his own with wounds ranging both from physical to emotional. She had brought him home and together they sat down and watched a movie in this exact room in the exact same place on the couch.

She remembers falling asleep next to him only to get woken up by her mother. Her parents' job and lifestyle made it hard not to be alone at times, but Lincoln filled that gap. But now with the threat of him leaving her, she felt empty. She wanted to voice her concerns and talk with him about it, but she knew Lincoln already had much on his back.

Maybe it was because of love she didn't want him to leave, or maybe it was because she didn't want to be alone again. Whichever the case, she knew for certain that without Lincoln, everything would feel dull.

"Ehh...Jordan, are you okay?" Lincoln asked snapping her out of her thoughts. She had been switching the channels constantly getting faster and faster as she went deeper into her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She blurted out. Jordan felt a pit in her stomach as she said that, her whole body was in disagreeance over the sentence.

Jordan looked at Lincoln who was looking at her in doubt. She let out a deep sigh before, with one swift movement, turned the tv off with the remote and turned to Lincoln afterwards. Jordan had her knees up to her chest curled up into a ball as she looked into the white-haired boy's eyes.

"Want to know what's wrong?" Jordan asked him. Lincoln stayed silent and nodded his head slowly while keeping his eyes on her.

"I'm worried Lincoln, worried that when your stay here eventually runs out, you will return back to Royal Woods and we'll be complete strangers to each other." Jordan summarized.

"Almost every vacation trip my family has taken, ended up with me alone for some of it. But then you showed up, I've never had so much fun at my vacation in so long. You made it fun and the thought of that ending made me even more worried." Explained Jordan. It was only now that it all came to light for Lincoln, how Jordan had been feeling and what she thought about the whole situation.

"But why did you then stay away from me? I missed you a lot." Lincoln said, Jordan felt saddened by the way Lincoln said that he missed her. His voice truly showed how much they had taken apart from each other.

"I didn't want to be taken by surprise by when you would leave. I thought that I got used to be without you, that the punch would be softer. But instead, it made it more painful." She clutched herself harder as more truths left her mouths.

She let out a sad chuckle. "I'm being selfish, aren't I? Wanting you by my side forever..." Jordan said while looking away not wanting to see his expression.

Finally, Lincoln felt that it was his time to speak. "No you aren't, Jordan. We can still be friends, nothing is going to stop us from that." Lincoln spoke out. His voice felt smooth and soothing to her, her muscles relaxed, and she slowly turned calmer with his words.

"Yeah...friends… But it still won't feel the same without you! We wouldn't be able to hang out every day, watch movie, or play games." Jordan said before retracting her statement. "I'm so needy!" She said angrily to herself, placing her head down on her knees.

"Don't you think I won't miss that? I love hanging out with you. You're energetic, carefree, loveable, cute. Everything about you is something I like. And that's why you won't lose me, because I don't want to lose you." Lincoln mumbled out aggressively.

The words Lincoln gave flattered her, but Jordan's mind instantly picked up on something. He really cared for her, more than friends normally did. She turned a glance to him and saw his eyes pointing anywhere but her.

" 'Energetic, carefree, loveable, cute.' " She repeated to him. Lincoln sank down on the couch mentally punching himself for revealing a bit too much.

"Well, I'm not wrong." Lincoln stood by his point, Jordan smiled as a light blush appeared on her face.

"Thanks, you are really cute too, by the way." Jordan responded this time making Lincoln blush in the process. They both sat there in their own silence, taking in everything.

"Look Lincoln, I'm sorry for all of this." Jordan apologized. Jordan knew that it was her fault and she was in the wrong here. "I should've stayed by your side all those days, but I feared out."

"It's fine, really. I'm just glad to know that you are okay." Lincoln said relieved. Another smile plastered onto Jordan's face as she really saw how much Lincoln cared for her.

Her stomach twisted in apprehension when Jordan's mind suggested telling him how she really feel, it would be a perfect time for that. No distraction from problems beyond them, they were alone and speaking with each other about their feelings.

"Hey, Lincoln."

"Yeah, Jordan?"

"We are friends, right?" Jordan asked cautiously. Lincoln face scrunched up from the question in confusion before nodding yes.

"We are, why are you asking?" Wondered Lincoln. Jordan's gut was telling her to back off, but she instead opt to try and push her feelings out into the public for him.

"We are really great friends…" Jordan added. She shifted her position on the couch into a more relaxed one facing Lincoln right on.

"Well yes, but I don't unders-" As Lincoln tried to voice his confusion her voice cut him off.

"But is it possible that we could be more than friends?" Jordan forced out of her mouth like bad food at a restaurant. She couldn't believe that she actually did it, but at the same time, she was anxious for the response of Lincoln. Jordan looked at his blank face, his expression was unreadable to her. Lincoln was dosed off by her question and his mind was trying to tell him what to do.

"I…I mean yes, it would be." Lincoln answered with stutters, still shocked from the question. It wasn't his best answer, but his mind was still in the process of digesting what he heard and trying to perceive it.

Jordan answered back. "But do you want to?" It was a question from the heart; she wouldn't hate him if he answered 'no' but she would be disappointed. Still, her eyes stayed fixated on the boy before his mouth opened to speak again. He shifted into a pose similar to hers on the couch and gazed into her eyes.

Lincoln answered truthfully with all the emotions he could.

"Yes, I would want to."

His expression didn't change as he awaited Jordan's response, there was a brief pause between them.

Then Jordan leapt towards him encasing him in a tight hug giving him multiple kisses on the cheek.

"I love you, Lincoln." Jordan said in the heat of moment with a smile that was infectious to Lincoln.

Amongst the kisses on his cheek, Lincoln caught a quick feeling of something lightly brushing his lips. It was quick and yet so amazing, he gazed into her eyes like a kid who just got a Christmas present.

"I love you too, Jordan." Lincoln announced to her as the two lovers finally realized what they meant for each other.

* * *

**Hey guys, TheCoffee here with another chapter. Lincoln and Jordan managed to talk things out and managed to form a stronger bond thanks to that. Since I don't have anything much more to say, I would want to thank you for reading this and hope to see you next chapter!**


	15. Luna's Mind

A new day of hopeful searching rose in New York. The sun glistered of the snow to make a truly beautiful scene. But for a certain amount of people, they didn't care for the looks or the feels of New York but instead, they cared for one thing: Finding their Brother.

The Loud family had all spent days looking in the deep city that was New York in hopes of finding their brother to which they wronged. But their efforts proved futile and meaningless, almost as if their brother had disappeared from the face of the earth with no sign of him ever existing.

They all sleep in four different rooms as sadly there weren't any rooms for a family as large as them. But it didn't really matter for one Loud where she was sleeping since she couldn't sleep at all, almost all the time she was here her eyes laid fully opened glazing at the white ceiling.

Luna Loud, the musically inclined sister of the family currently leaned against the very back of the bed on top. With both her earbuds plugged in she was listening to music to give her that slight bit of hope and energy boost she needed for today and the next upcoming days. She barely glanced up from her phone and kept her face indulged in the screen as she scrolled through images of the past whilst letting the music amplify her emotions.

Her tired eyes weakly looked up to meet the others in her room. Her eyes laid upon the oldest sister in the family: Lori, who was staring down at her phone just like she was, but something was different. It was almost as if the energy around her had changed completely, gone was the sluggish and angry at everyone Lori, being replaced with new emotions that were more calm and _cheerful? _

What was there to have joy over? They cursed their only brother to pain in this city while the oldest sat there with no care in the world. Did she even know who they were looking for? It made her mad to think that she was so unaffected by all of this, just a couple of days ago Lori hated everyone and now this.

***Knock* *Knock* *Knock***

"Kids the restaurant is open!" Said while knocking on the door on the other side.

The rest of the sisters quickly piled up next to the door while whilst Luna lazily got up and took out her earbuds and pocketed them along with her phone. She followed her sisters out of the room and into the hallway where the rest of her sisters already were. Her mom quickly did a headcount of everyone before they all walked towards the restaurant.

It was nothing fancy, but Luna didn't mind it, after all, she and her family weren't here for the good food. Luna found herself wedged between Lola and Lana in the line for the food. She grabbed a plate and tossed on whatever looked edible which was the same thing she ate every single day her family went here.

Taking a seat, she found herself next to Leni who looked a lot calmer than usual.

'What is going on with those two?' She thought to herself.

She dug into her food trying to finish it as fast as possible so her search could continue, it felt like every part of this place had been seen but Luna had to keep searching. She owed him to at least try her best and that was what she was going to do.

Silent bickering came from her family all around the table, but Luna blurred it all out in hopes of realizing where her brother could be. There had been discussions on if Lincoln even was here, but Lori quickly came to convince them otherwise and continued their searching. Her gut agreed with Lori, he had to be here. She didn't know why but she just knew that he was here.

Her mind was deep in thought before a voice called out to her taking her out of the trance.

"-ould you pass me the ketchup." The voice repeated next to her. Luna turned to Leni before switching her eyes on the ketchup bottle that she had to reach for her.

"Oh okay here." She reached for the bottle and swiftly moved it to Leni. Thinking nothing more of its Luna resumed to looking at her food and thinking but then she heard something under Leni's breath.

"_Thanks…_"

Thanks? Was Luna really being thanked by the sister who only a couple of days prior hated their guts? Out of all the sister's Luna excepted Leni to stay the way she was for the longest, but could she be really going back to her roots? That was quickly thrown aside by a more important question in her mind.

'Why is she like this?'

The question played on all her strings in her mind as her focus shifted to Leni's behavior. She couldn't pin it down but maybe it was her constant searching shifts with Lori or maybe something else. She looked over at everyone sitting down to see if anyone else had changed or gotten _'better' _but only Lori and Leni had experienced these changes.

Luna quickly finished up her food seeing that her siblings were almost done with theirs and waited for their parents to finish so that they could continue the everlasting search.

A couple of minutes passed before and Rita stood up and collected the plates of all the siblings putting them near the counter on a rack. She followed dad and her siblings to the main entrance while her mom went to grab all of their jackets so that they'll waste less time in their rooms.

"Alright kid's same rules as before and be back before 7." repeated. "Got it?"

All of the Loud sisters nodded, groaned, or agreed silently as they prepared to walk outside. Rita came down with all of their warm clothes and Luna was handed her purple jacket to match her purple color scheme. Knowing that she was going to walk alone Luna plugged in her earbuds and left before the others could finish putting on their clothes.

Outside was practically the same every time she left, the only difference was the cars passing by and the joyful people walking by. She thought of her path ahead of time so that she would be more effective and started walking amongst the snow beneath her feet. She had her hands in her jacket's pockets along with her phone which she was fiddling with subconsciously.

The path she walked had probably been searched before by her sisters, but she didn't care, every day that passes is another opportunity to see her brother again missed. It felt as if the only thing keeping her grounded to reality was the immense guilt she was feeling, else without it she would be an empty shell of a person.

As she walked past the countless store's Luna felt the slight vibration of her phone and took it out to see what it was about. Surprisingly it was a message and from none other than Sam, she was utterly surprised by what her screen showed, and she fumbled around on the screen before managing to unlock her phone.

"_Luna are you there?" The message read._

Luna had spoken to Sam before about her search in New York and she seemed supportive of it, but after that, all contact with her had gone silent so Luna had assumed that there still was some resentment towards her which she was fine with. She deserved it.

"Yeah I'm here, I'm out searching for him right now. What is it?" Luna typed out.

"_The cops came to our school today and asked me if I've seen you or your family!" Sam typed back._

Upon reading it Luna stopped walking instantly and reread the message.

"Well what did you tell them?" She typed in a haze.

"_Told them I hadn't seen you in a couple of days. Sorry Luna but I could really get in trouble if I would have lied." Sam wrote._

"It's okay, let's just hope we can find him before the cops come busting in on our hotel." Luna answered.

_"Good Luck Luna. I wish you the best."  
_

And with that the message exchange ended and Luna pocketed her phone again trying to catch her breath and calm down. The police were looking for them and it won't be long before they would find them. She continued her walk towards her throughout path and tried to pay no attention to the new situation put in the light. It would only distract her from what was important, but she would have to tell her parents when they would all meet up again.

She walked for another period of time listening to music whilst glancing at every corner of the streets, she checked countless alleyways and even some stores for him when she thought that she saw someone with white hair inside, but it turned out to be just a white hat much to her dismay.

Luna had to keep hoping, all of her focus was on her brother and nothing else. Not her relationship problems with Sam, not that the police were looking for them, and not that her throat felt dry almost as if she hadn't had any water today… because she hadn't Luna had realized.

Although it wasn't her number one priority her dry throat was beginning to annoy her to some extent, knowing that nothing bad would happen if she stepped off her path for a bit Luna took a turn off the path and looked for a corner store near her so that she could buy some water.

She considered turning back and walking into one of those stores she had walked past before after she found herself almost in the outskirts of New York. But lo and behold a small corner store came into view just as she was about to turn back.

Quickly making her way inside Luna scavenged for a water bottle that she found and placed on the counter. Much to her fast attitudes disappointment, the store clerk was in the backroom doing something and with no bell, she couldn't alert him which forced her to wait.

She tapped her foot to the beat of her music impatiently whilst trying to get the clerk's attention, seeing that it would take some time Luna looked out through the store window to see the outskirts of New York which she had barely explored. She didn't need to explore there since Lori and Leni assured everyone that they were searching there.

That's why Luna was semi-shocked when she saw both Lori and Leni walking a path in the outskirts, what surprised her was that they were walking together. Had they crossed paths and met? Luna sneaked up to the window and got a closer look at her two sisters who were deep in conversation about something that Luna couldn't hear.

There was something about the two which set of alarms in her mind. The two's weird mood changes and how they were walking the same path and talking, something was happening and only the two knew it. Her mind quickly split into two parts upon seeing her sisters, one wanted to go straight up and talk to them about all of this, but another part said that they wouldn't tell her even if she asked.

Luna weighed her options and decided on something, she would walk with them from a distance just so she could hear their conversation. If she deemed it unimportant then she could resume her regular path and if by any chance they would see her she would tell them that she got lost or off track.

She hated herself for taking away time from finding Lincoln but whatever brought the mood changes to her sisters might help her two sisters to get back on track to find Lincoln instead of walking around as if this was a vacation for them.

Luna skipped getting water and left the store, putting on her hoodie over her head to hide her even if her purple jacket stuck out like a sore thumb in the white snow and the gray color pallet the street possessed. Luna snuck around after them trying to hear what they were saying but it only came off as whispers thanks to the loud air and how far away she was. She needed to come closer to hear.

Thinking of a game plan Luna tiptoed as close as she could without getting their attention trying to get in a little noise of what their talk was.

"-nder what he wanted to tell us?" Leni asked with Lori shrugging her shoulders.

"Don't know but he sounded excited on the phone." Lori said with a slight smile on her face.

Luna tried to hear in more, but her foot slightly slipped on ice-making an audible sound that alerted the two. Luna quickly got her balance together and slid into a nearby alleyway where she was out of sight and could catch her breath.

The two turned around in suspicion before chalking it up as nothing and turning forward again continuing their walk. Luna meanwhile was almost hyperventilating from how close she was to getting caught, she leaned against a brick wall and bowed down with her hands on her knees.

'Who was this 'he' they were talking about.' Luna wondered to herself. From all she knew neither family member had ever been to New York before and therefore shouldn't know anyone from here, that meant that it was either dad they were talking about or Bobby who had called her.

Glancing out of the alleyway with her head Luna scanned for the two before she saw them across the street standing still like they were waiting for someone. Lori had taken out her phone and was eagerly checking it while Leni looked over her shoulder to also see.

Luna sat there watching the two from the Alleyway. Lori suddenly put her phone away in her pocket as a car began rolling up to the two, Luna didn't recognize it nor knew why both Lori and Leni welcomed a car to come up to them. Squinting her eyes Luna was able to make out a female driver as Lori and Leni opened the car door and entered. Luna was beyond confused and mouth agape at what she was seeing. Were her sisters being kidnapped willfully, or was there something more?

Before the car could get away Luna took out her phone and snagged a picture of the car's license plate in hopes of finding out who owned the car. She left her cover after the car was gone from her sights and still tried to wrap her mind around what was going on, but now with the assurance of something going on that nobody else knew Luna decided to dig deeper.

She looked around and saw a library nearby and went into, smiling when she realized that they had free open Wi-Fi. She sat down on a chair in the corner of the library opening her phone and checking the image of the license plate. She searched it up online trying to find out who it belonged to and how it related to Lori and Leni going inside of it.

To her surprise, Luna found out that it belonged to a married woman from Royal Woods. So, it was maybe someone they knew from Royal Woods, but upon digging deeper Luna came across the woman's Facebook. She took a quick peek at it not wanting to go overboard with her stalking. A recent picture from the woman showed that she was on vacation in New York with her family consisting of a husband and a daughter.

'But why would they go into her car?' Luna asked herself. It all didn't make sense; they were still looking for Lincoln so why would they just jump to do something else.

But now came another question: What should she do now?

Her options stood between either trying to find out everything on her own or bringing in all the other sisters into this. Upon further pondering she concluded; she was going to look for them on her own but tomorrow she was going to tell the rest of them.

With a plan in mind, Luna quickly started with finding the address of where they lived here in New York. After some cross-referencing, she picked up on an address that was just about half an hour away from her. She knew that this was wrong in some way but for the sake of her sisters and her curiosity Luna had to push on.

Leaving the library with a plan at hand she pulled up a map app on her phone that led her to the assigned location. She took her first step forward and kept taking them quicker and quicker until she was out of the street and back in the outskirts where the map had led her.

She followed what her phone showed closely as to not get lost and not long before she was led to a mansion looking house, her eyes were wide at the family's house wondering how rich they were. Luna hesitated to enter the property of the house and instead chose to look from the outside. She walked around the house until she came upon a parking space that housed the same car that picked Lori and Leni up with fresh snow tracks right beneath.

'Guess this is where they are.' Luna said trying to think what her next move should be.

Then by surprise out of the corner of Luna's eye, she caught a glimpse of Lori walking by a window. With the guarantee of her two sisters being here Luna carefully threaded closer to the window trying to see inside without herself being seen. Slouching down she approached close up the window and peeked up with her two eyes glancing into the home.

As she investigated what she guessed was the living room and saw Lori preparing some kind of tabletop game on the table with a smile and meanwhile, Leni was nowhere in sight. Lori's eyes suddenly flicked away from the table and onto someone coming into the room, it was a girl about her brother's age with light brown hair tied into a braid.

The girl said something to Lori, but it was inaudible for Luna, Lori's smile grew as she finished setting the game up. They both jumped onto the couch visibly waiting for someone who Luna could only guess was Leni, speak of the devil Leni entered the room around the same time with a smile on her face.

Leni then grew a confused look as the girl explained something to her but soon her smile returned as she seemingly understood.

Her body suddenly froze as she saw something.

A boy without a warning slid into the room holding a bowl of popcorn above his head as if it was his most prized possession. A large smile laid on his face as he said something making the girl giggle as he placed down the bowl on the table next to the game. His white hair stood out in the room along and Luna's eyes widened when she saw who it was.

It was none other than Lincoln Loud…

Luna physically stood in the same place with her eyes wide at what she saw, slow breaths left her mouth misting the window in front of her. Her eyes could fathom what she was seeing, her heart rate slowed down as all the gusting wind around her filled her ears with howling noises.

She blinked her eyes forcefully to know that she was seeing right, she couldn't be deceived now of all times. Her brother, the person they were here for was standing there with the two people who were supposed to look for him.

Her legs quivered and she lost her footing on the cold hard ground before slipping and falling down crashing onto the small patch of snow beneath her. She had tried to reach out for something to grip but accidentally knocked with her knuckles on the window really hard.

Luna swore in her mind as she tried to get up and get out before anyone would notice her. She glanced back at the window and her dreams of running away unseen were crushed when she saw Lori, Leni, the girl, and Lincoln piled up at the window looking down at her with diverging looks.

* * *

**And there we have it, chapter 15 finally done. Sorry for the long wait but I hope that It was worth it. I want to thank you for reading and staying patient, and I'll see you in the next chapter. (Note: My beta reader wasn't a part of this chapter. )**


	16. Tearfall

"What are you doing here, Luna?" Lori said with a look of displeasure and anger.

She towered over Luna who sat on the couch, preparing to berate her with questions. Luna threw her eyes to the side not wanting to meet Lori's judgmental look. Luna stayed silent, even holding her breath in hopes of turning invisible. But that didn't last long as her head became lightweight and her body unwillingly released the breath she had been holding with a lengthy sigh.

The side of her eyes caught glimpses around the room. No one. No one else was present in the living room except her and Lori. She felt trapped against her will. Swallowing a large lump down her throat, Luna slid down the couch as to try and escape Lori's words forced into her ears.

"Answer me!" Demanded Lori loudly, inching closer to her face.

Her breath came out shaky and for a moment, she lost her ability to breathe or function, her brain just seemed to have shut down. She didn't know why, but she felt on giving up. She wanted to just leave thru the front door and pretend she'd never seen what she saw. But alas, that wasn't going to happen.

Her mouth slowly went agape in fear. "I- I… followed you." Luna whispered with her hitched breath pausing. Her arms subconsciously crossed just under her chest area and her nails began scratching the end of her arm as she did when she would be nervous.

Lori's eyes squinted and scanned every inch of her face with no change in attitude. Seeing that she was telling the truth, Lori scoffed and backed her face away to its previous position.

"Why did you follow us, Luna?" She winched at her name being called. Her breaths became forcibly slower as she felt any sudden noise could erupt everything into pure chaos. Even though it wouldn't, Luna couldn't shake the feeling off.

Yet another question she didn't want to answer. Lori tapped her foot on the floor impatiently expecting a response.

"Well I…" She couldn't grasp the words she needed. Feeling that she needed more strength, Luna called upon everything she had in herself to talk. "It's because you and Leni were acting strange. You looked like you didn't even care about finding Lincoln and you know what? It made me mad!" Luna shouted. Lori took a few steps back after Luna's outburst.

"But then I come to find out that YOU TWO have known where OUR BROTHER was the ENTIRE TIME!" Luna continued. She shot up from the couch with a wave of blood-red anger on her face, blood-filled with adrenaline, she threw her face closer to the oldest sister threateningly. Lori grimaced and looked down on Luna with her height taking none of this from her.

"Luna, you better not get started on that he is your brother. The whole family bond you think you share with him, it's gone. Done, just like he is with you and the rest of our forsaken family." Lori responded harshly. The air between them went quiet as Lori finished her speech. Luna stood there, bewildered by what Lori said to her.

"Your bond between you and Lincoln is like trust. It's hard to build up but it's easy to break it. And you all pushed your luck until you crossed the line." Lori said. "You think of yourself as some angel to him just because mom let you hold him first, just because you had your moments with him. Well, big surprise! That doesn't justify what you did ever so slightly!"

"I know that!" Luna countered. "Do you think that I don't feel bad for what I did? I DO. And right now, you're being selfish by keeping him from us." Lori's face morphed into disbelief for a second from the rocker's shouting before it went back to its original grimace.

"No, what I'm doing is what he wants. And that is to get as far away from you as possible." Lori mouthed. Luna paled and felt a sense of sadness grow around her heart. "If you even think that I'll literally let you go upstairs with him, then you're wrong." Lori spoke coldly to her. She spoke to her not as a sister, but as an enemy now. Someone who was trying to tear down everything she was trying to build up. And Luna, along with everyone else was the demolition squad.

"Lori, how do you except me to apologize to him or try and make up for what I did when you can't even let me see him?" Luna said which raised a good point. They both were at a standstill with opposite goals clashing with one and the other.

"Neither I nor he want you anywhere near him. Lincoln doesn't want your apology, because no matter how sorry you are, the scars you made will stay with him." Lori coldness continue to assult Luna; Nevertheless, the rocker swallowed another lump in her throat and stood straight indicating that she wasn't going anywhere. Lori was impressed by Luna's bravery and determination, but that wasn't going to change her mind.

"I've seen his bruises Luna, they are still there. They will remind him of what you've done and even if they heal, the damage still lays in his head." Lori remembered when she caught a glimpse of the damages.

Lincoln had been reaching for something on a shelve too tall for him. She came over to help but saw his shirt lift as he reached. Reddish spots all over with multiple healing bruises going down his stomach.

It chilled her to the core. She never mentioned it to him, but at times, he made it obvious that he knew how bad it really was.

"Lori, Lincoln is not staying with some randoms he barely knows. OUR family misses him and hates themselves for what they did." Luna explained angrily. A droplet of sweat ran down her forehead. She still stood up to the towering Lori and held in all of her remaining emotions as if it was her cling to life.

"Well, he doesn't want to go back, and on the contrary, we do know these so called 'randoms'." Lori stated in satisfaction. Lori had caught glimpses of the husband, wife, and Jordan before all of this had gone down. She even talked to them while working at the arcade, all of them were kind from the small exchange of words they had.

Suddenly, Luna's dam holding back everything cracked, and the crack became a hollow hole as it grew the more emotions spilled into her mind and words.

"I DON'T CARE!"

Luna shouted out before pleading out.

"I WANT MY BROTHER BACK!"

She took out all of her energy as tears poured down her eyes. Her body jerked with her nose sniffling in uneven timing.

Her body slowly started to weigh more, feeling her legs weakening by every second and started to go limp. She had pulled her hands up to her face that was now smudged with tears of pain and sadness. Slowly, she began backing away from Lori and bowed her head down showing defeat to her.

Two pairs of arms surrounded her in comfort, belonging to Lori who sighed. Luna tried to retaliate and push Lori away but found herself unable to before giving up and crying down on her shoulder. Her hair slid down her cheeks and just above her eyes covering them, letting the tears roll down the strands.

Luna felt that she could fill a whole fishbowl with the tears she let out. Those tears had been built up for so long that it became painful for Luna to let it all out, yet she did. Realizing that her brother was not going anywhere close to his family stung Luna deep in the core of her heart, but it was a fact she was willing to accept in time.

No words needed to be exchanged between the two. Lori was there to comfort her sister, even if she hadn't forgiven her, it was in her sisterly instincts to do so. However, she tried to fight it, but it needed to be done.

Silent minutes passed before anyone would speak.

"Better?" Lori asked as wholeheartedly as she could.

Luna finally backed out of the hug to be able to wipe her eyes as her streams of tears finally reached their end. With the palm of her hand, she dragged out the tears to the side on each eye and tucked her hair back behind. Her legs felt limp and weak as a noodle after having Lori support her weight in the hug for so long. Luna's head spun around in a daze before she collapsed onto the couch behind her.

"A bit." Luna took an intake of air thru her nose with a shaky breath. "Thanks."

She took deep breaths like she had learned to do whenever she cried. It helped her calm down and stop the hitched breaths she took that slightly choked her out. Her breaths returned to their normal rate soon enough and her whole body realized once more on the couch as it did when Lori held her up in the hug.

A small disturbance on the couch cushion then reached Luna as she saw Lori sit down on the open seat beside her. She was about half an arm's reach away from her obviously wanting to give her some time to process everything on her own.

Luna's arms plastered down on her knees as deep breaths were taken. Her long stream of tears had long since ended and her whole body felt numb and weak. She was wishing that she wouldn't be in this position where everything is blurred for her; maybe it was her tired mind that had been decaying ever since he left. No words could describe how she was feeling or wanted to feel.

BUZZ!* *BUZZ!* *BUZZ!*

A vibrating noise made its way thru the silent air between the two. Luna's body stiffened as her phone was the thing to break the comforting silence and she swore under her breath for the phone's interference. Her phone kept making the same noise almost as if to annoy her but in reality, it was just someone calling her.

"Are you going answer or what?" Lori asked. No emotion could be read from the blonde-haired girl's voice, but Luna was sure that deep inside, Lori was as anxious as she was about the call.

Luna shifted her position on the couch and reached for her phone now in the back pocket of her jeans. The caller ID was recognized as their mom by both Luna and Lori. There was a small pause in her mind as she looked at the vibrating phone in her hand.

She knew that Lori was watching both her and the phone for the slightest of action and with a reluctant swipe of a finger, the accept button glowed green and a conversation started. The phone that was gracefully clasped in her hand got pulled up next to her ear after moving away strands of her curly brown hair.

"Hello?" She asked in a worrisome tone. The question felt stupid almost as if it didn't need to exist, yet her panic caused her mind to think astray and blur it out.

"Hey sweetie, it's mom. Just calling everybody up to see how things are going." Her voice sounded sad in her ears and it was clear why.

She was losing hope…

The voice of her mother then continued. "If you want, then we could all meet up somewhere and take something to eat. Breakfast wasn't that appetizing." Unlike fog, it was clear what her mother was seeking, just wanting some time with her daughters in a time where emotional support was all.

It softened her heart at the thought that her mom wanted to spend time with everyone, but with a strong painful sharp sting in her heart, she knew that a decision had to be made. Or more was forcefully made for her…

Luna gulped as her mouth opened ever so slightly. "I would love to, but it's just… I'm busy." Was all her mind could muster up to say. It felt like an awful excuse not to come and she begged that she'd not take her request to heart. Where she stood now was much more important then where she would be if she had said yes.

An extended breath of air left the other side of the call as the noise went silent.

"I understand- We h… I haven't been the best parent to you Luna, or any of you. But if you ever want to talk, just call, okay?" Her voice sounded concerned and saddened by the denial. Another strike to the heart came when her mother still showed care for her even if she hadn't. It felt like a cold knife that picked her right thru and left permanent frost on the slow beating heart.

Luna absorbed those words and mustered up her own words. "Always. I love you mom." She could feel the impact that those words had on the receiver; a tough weight had been lifted from her sturdy shoulders that she didn't even know existed. She relaxed them as she beamed a smile for both herself and her mom.

"I love you, too." The call came to an end with a low beeping noise ending the connection. Luna stood there hunched over with the smile now gone as she felt the feeling of regret come over her. Not only from now, but for everything that happened, everything she couldn't stop…

Holstering her phone started a chain reaction in her sister that sat beside her. A light hand found itself on Luna's shoulder giving her a light squeeze; What the eldest sister's gesture meant for Luna could be anyone guesses, but from the soothing smile Lori beamed out, Luna guessed it was something to lift her spirits.

"You really want to see him?" Luna gave a slight nod to her before hearing a deep breath being taken. That small breath gave a slight hope in her stomach as out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lori looking at her complexly. Almost as if she was trying to figure something out.

"Wait here…" Lori lifted herself off the couch with Luna still watching out of the corner of her eye. The oldest blonde reached for the stairs that she'd only seen when entering the house. Lori disappeared up beyond her sight leaving her alone again, yet her mind kept shifting to what Lori was doing.

She sat there with her palms on her knees, hair down her face in a curly mess waiting patiently as instructed.

* * *

Lincoln thought that it wouldn't go down like this. He felt many emotions but couldn't determine what he should feel. Should he be happy?

Sad?

Angry?

Or something completely else that he didn't know about?

His head spun like a Ferris wheel, slowly dragging Lincoln into a pit of panic.

It was only when he felt something squeeze his hand returned him into place. There he was lying next to Jordan in her room on her bed, and Leni next to the exit guarding the door saying nothing but clearly thinking of something. Lincoln turned to Jordan who gave him a soft smile trying to ease his emotions which she was slightly successful with.

"It's okay Lincoln, just breathe." Jordan instructed him. Lincoln followed Jordan as he took deep breaths which surprisingly calmed him more.

"Thanks…" Lincoln replied gracefully as he slouched down her bed and laid his head on her shoulder for support. It all felt natural to both of them and Jordan leaned her head onto his, closing her eyes at how unexpectedly comfortable it was. Her arm wrapped around his in a sweet effort of comfort.

He didn't know for how long that he sat in that position but for him, it didn't matter. It was calming to him and his mind slowly melted away from what laid ahead of him and just for a minute, he could truly relax and not worry.

Then there was a knock on the door. It opened slightly and Lincoln saw Lori's head peek in before she entered. The dark concealed her face from showing any emotion but from the tension flowing off her, he had a twinge of an idea why she was here.

"Hey Lori." Lincoln said, looking at her from the comfort of Jordan.

"Hey Lincoln." Lori said with a lump in her throat. Her mouth opened but closed as fast before she could put out any words. But this didn't go unnoticed by Lincoln.

"I can see that you want to say something, Lori." Lincoln announced.

"I talked to Luna. And she wants to see you…" Lori's words trailed off as her throat tightened. Lincoln's face twisted into something that she couldn't recognize in the dark.

Jordan gripped Lincoln harder, she didn't want him to go, holding onto him like a little girl in the dark with her stuffed animal. She could hear his breath hitch and his body tense, his eyes showed him deep in thought almost as if in some trance. Lori was leaning onto the doorframe, anxiously awaiting an answer. It was obvious by her face that she would take any answer from him. A bit of her even hoped that he would refuse.

Lincoln seemingly snapped out of whatever trance and thoughts he was in. His eyes meet Leni's who peeked within thru the slightly open door. Lincoln started to shift his body uncomfortably and he raised his head off Jordan's shoulder to show full attention to Lori.

Lincoln looked at Lori, "I'll do it." His words spoke out. Nobody knew what he had thought of or what made him decide but from the lack of response, Lincoln saw that nobody was arguing against his choice.

Lori was the first to speak up and was baffled by his answer, clearly not expecting it. "Are you sure? I mean literally nobody's forcing you to do this. If you don't want to, then it's fine." She assured him.

"I know. And I'll do it." Lincoln stood. Jordan placed her eyes on him in utter shock. She moved away from Lincoln's side and stood at his front with a soft expression of worry and sadness.

"I might not ever forgive her. But I can't avoid her forever, or any of them for the matter of fact." Lincoln acknowledged and braved himself.

Even if his voice sounded calm and relaxed, his mind wasn't. It was pacing back and forth on what to do or what to say, but Lincoln shook those thoughts away for now. The last thing he needed was to worry too much. He noticed that Leni had stopped peeking and closed the door while Lori looked at him without saying anything.

Lincoln moved to the door, he glanced back at everyone behind him and saw Jordan's eyes sparkle giving him something to look forward to after this. Lori opened the door for him, and he went out to the corridor where Leni guarded his door. She didn't make eye contact with him nor say anything. All she did was give a light nod wishing him well and Lincoln's lips moved to form a smile. He left Leni standing there and descended down the stairs.

There in the living room was Luna. Upon hearing the footsteps, she glanced up and saw Lincoln. Her body tensed up and she held her breath without thinking about it.

"Hey." Lincoln greeted. He sat down on a one-seated couch facing Luna. His eyes were studying her posture and the dried tear marks beneath her eyebags.

A small smile graced Luna's lips beneath her palms as she let out a sigh of relief. He was safe, he was okay. It made Luna calm but also slightly unnerved due to Lincoln seeing her in such a mess; bloodshot eyes and heavy breathing. There was a moment when Luna realized that she hadn't said anything to him and opened her mouth with thumbs metaphorically crossed.

"Lincoln…" She began, removing her hands finally from her face. "Thank god, you're safe." Luna muttered out with a breath of relief.

Lincoln was surprised, to say the least. He had prepared himself to hear Luna plead for him to come home by saying that everyone missed him. But no, she cared about his wellbeing and it made him delighted that his sister had more heart than he originally thought. It almost made him feel… guilty.

"You should thank Jordan and her family for that." Lincoln said. "If she hadn't found me, then I'd be out in the street." Luna flinched at how Lincoln calmly explained the avoided situation. The thought that Lincoln almost ended up just like she feared chilled her relentlessly.

"That's good. That's good." She repeated slowly, assuring herself that everything was good. "How's things going here?"

Lincoln was surprised and didn't know how to answer. The questions asked were a lot more different than he had imagined. From Luna's point of view, all she wanted was a normal conversation while Lincoln expected an interrogation.

"Everything's…alright. Me and Jordan hung out a lot since we met. We went to the mall, played games, watched movies." Lincoln told, remembering those times to give him strength.

Luna didn't respond, she just shined down at the ground with an invisible expression masked by her hair again. She was clearly in thought, what it was could be anyone's guess. After a few moments, her body seemed to relax, and she laid back on the couch while keeping her eyes down.

"What's wrong?" Lincoln inquired. Luna turned her head to his side and shook at him, meaning that 'it's nothing'. Of course, just because someone says that 'it's nothing', it doesn't mean that it is actually nothing. Most of the time, it's actually the exact opposite.

Lincoln sighed before cracking a small smile. "Luna… please?"

Luna pondered to his request. It was a question laying heavy on her chest that she would have to force out just to ask. It bothered her that she was this afraid of asking a simple question when she herself had performed in front of hundreds of people multiple times. However, this time was different, this time it was Lincoln.

"You're not coming back, are you?" Lincoln visibly tensed as he stuttered under his breath trying to answer her.

"I - …don't want to." Lincoln settled on after his stutters passed. Luna wasn't fazed at all by his answer, it's not like she excepted anything else. Even now, Luna could see that Lincoln was cautious. Being on the other side of the couch, trying to smile only when she was looking at his crossed arms for self-comfort.

"I get it, bro." Luna flinched at her own words she let slip. She had not meant to call him that, but as they say, 'old habits die hard'. She looked at Lincoln for any sort of reaction, but he didn't seem to notice her use of the word.

"Thanks for understanding." Lincoln mumbled, not know what else to say.

This felt almost a hundred times harder to talk to her than to anyone else. Both Lori and Leni came on easy with both being innocent in his eyes. But this was Luna. One of the ones who fired the bullet, metaphorically speaking. It wasn't something he'd let down that easily. Maybe not even in his lifetime.

Looking at her in the eyes proved a challenge. But in his position, he couldn't back down. His mind searched for a question to ask. Lori and Leni already kept him informed about the rest of his sisters when he asked, of course. Which was quite rare in his case. As for outside news, he kept to Jordan's parents and Jordan herself for that. It wasn't like he could ask 'how's the weather?' without it sounding like a forced conversation.

"Lincoln…-"

His gaze turned to her once more. Guess she was the one starting a new conversation. With a mental sigh of relief, Lincoln watched the girl fumble and mumble to herself quietly. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least, watching what was once a person so hyper and energetic be so cautious and fearful of what to say.

"-are they still there?"

'huh?' Lincoln mentally thought to himself. Was what there?

"The… bruises." She clarified, saying the last part quietly as if he'd snap hearing her talk so openly.

Lincoln's eyes diverted to the side as he subconsciously rubbed his side shoulder. The pain had numbed out and healed over time, but last time he'd checked, it was still there. Although he hadn't looked at every wound, Lincoln was well aware that most of them still showed, but luckily, they weren't as painful as the day he got them.

"Yes." Lincoln answered simply, not wanting to guilt trip Luna by mentioning specifics. He wanted to keep this talk equal with Luna, at least equal enough where one of them doesn't have a mental breakdown or completely refuses to talk.

Luna winched in response by clenching her jaw, hating herself for bringing it up. "Sorry for reminding you." Luna apologized, tense as ever.

"I-… Thank you for caring… Luna." Lincoln relaxed, trying to not come off as sarcastic or anything. He was sincere with those words and Luna seemingly understood that with her face lighting up a bit.

Sadly, the moment was cut short when she felt her phone vibrate. She cursed herself for not leaving it silent and didn't pick it up immediately hoping to continue their talk without any interruptions. But unlike Luna, Lincoln had other thoughts than to leave it be.

"You should probably pick that up." Lincoln coughed. Luna looked hesitant but slowly took it out and read the message. It was sent to their family group chat, one which they all only shared information over. The message was from her dad of all people.

'Girls, we have to regroup at the hotel. Come as soon as possible.'

Luna closed her phone, feeling conflicted. On one side, she was with her brother, talking to him after-… actually, never mind that. On the other side, something must have happened; her pops wouldn't just call them all back especially while everyone was looking for Lincoln.

Her phone screen lit up again showing multiple messages coming in from her sisters all complaining and freaking out over having to regroup. But her pop kept telling them to get back, and it was starting to freak her out.

Suddenly, two pairs of feet belonging to Lori and Leni rushed down the stairs and came down by the entrance of the house, grabbing their stuff.

"Okay, your time's up. We're going back and if you dare say a word, it'll be your last." Lori threatened hastily while putting on her jacket. She grabbed Luna's jacket and threw it over to her before waiting up for Leni to finish.

"Wait, what's happening?" Lincoln asked, slightly panicked. Then another pair of feet ran down with it being Jordan who had an alarmed look on her face.

"We don't have time. Luna, come on, I'll explain on the way. Jordan, you tell Lincoln." Lori nodded to the girl with her reciprocating it.

Luna quickly threw her stuff on while freaking out. Before any question could be answered, Lori quite literally pulled Luna out of the house with Leni trailing after. All three of them speed walking away.

Meanwhile, Lincoln who looked out the window seeing his sisters leave then looked at Jordan for an explanation. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn't find the words for it before a lightbulb lit up. She fumbled with her pocket taking out her phone.

Jordan proceeded to search up ''Royal Wood News" and it was then that Lincoln had a bad feeling about this, a really bad one. It wasn't until he was given the phone, that his suspicions were confirmed.

"I'm Katharine Mulligan here with live news. It has soon been over 2 weeks since the disappearance of Lincoln Loud and recent reports show his family may been involved with his disappearance. Although police have refused to comment on it, recent interviews suggest that the family ran away shortly after their son's disappearance."

And as if that wasn't bad enough, the news even had the guts to display photos of Rita and Lynn Sr. Jordan closed the phone and moved it away from Lincoln after showing him what Lori told her.

"Link?" She waved her hand in front of him. Jordan was now really worried. Lori and Leni paled when they discovered the clip, but Lincoln had full-on shut down.

"This is it…" Lincoln said emotionless.

"This is where it all happens."

* * *

**Beta'd by Ink_Dub**


End file.
